When Your Gone
by gibbsxzivaxtony9761
Summary: Dimitri left with Tasha, leaving Rose defenseless against Strigoi,what happens when he finds out his Roza is captured and is more or less dead?
1. Chapter 1

Rose POV

We boarded the plane to the ski lodge, and I felt the air tingling with buzzing voices, the air seemed to be filled with electricity.

I sat next to Mason, and to my disappointment, Dimitri and Tasha sat next to us. I groaned and slumped down in my seat, trying to make myself seem smaller, which wasn't working because Dimitri shot me a glance and then went back to his girl friend.

"Rose, what's wrong?" Mason asked, cupping my chin with his hand.

I shook my head, "Nothing," I whispered, looking at Dimitri and Tasha. They were talking and laughing, he looked so relaxed, the tense Guardian posture he had when we were training didn't seem to exist when he was with her.

"It's not nothing, Rose, you look so depressed," Mason complained, pulling me up and towards him.

I sighed, and felt a strong headache starting. It felt like a hammer was pounding against my temples and dragging claws across my head.

"Nothing, just a headache," I whispered, putting my head on his chest. I tried to go to sleep, but once we were in the air it wasn't possible.

"Rose," Mason was shaking me.

I looked up, irritated, "What?"

"You look like you're in pain, are you ok?" He asked, his voice was filled with concern.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dimitri's head shoot up from his seat, and he glared at both of us, his face was blank, but as always, his eyes spoke legions.

"I'm perfectly fine, god dammit!" I practically yelled.

Mason looked at me and waved a flight attendant over, "Can I get a few pain killers for her, please?"

She nodded and walked away. I groaned and my head banged against the window and I winced. My vision started to blur, and suddenly, I could only hear voices, I couldn't see whose bodies they belonged to though.

"What's the matter with her, is she ok?" That was Dimitri, god, his voice sounded so sweet, his accent laced every word, and each word was dripping with worry.

"I don't know, but she's turning paler," Mason whispered.

I felt him pull me closer, but I couldn't speak or move.

"Give her to me," Dimitri commanded.

I felt Mason tense up and wanted to tell Dimitri that I was perfectly happy with Mason, but again, I couldn't speak.

"No, she's my girl friend in the first place, I can take care of her," Mason said, his voice was aggressive and tense.

"Mr. Ashford, let Guardian Belikov take his student," That was Alberta and I felt Mason hand me to Dimitri.

I suddenly saw ghosts filtering my vision and gasped. They seemed to make the headache worsen and I gritted my teeth to stop myself from crying out in pain, but the smallest sound managed to escape and come out.

"Roza," Dimitri whispered and pulled me in tighter, we were so close that when I breathed in, it was the smell of his aftershave, so sweet and sharp.

I felt him walking and then, he was sitting down, cradling me in his arms. I was tucked into a tight ball against the ghosts, trying to see Dimitri, but I couldn't. But I felt his arms around me, and that made it all ok for some reason.

I felt his hand move across my forehead and unwrinkled the lines on my forehead. I sighed into him. Just his touch seemed to make the pain go away a little bit more. I saw the ghosts fade away into smoke, and then, they were all gone.

I opened my eyes and I felt Dimitri relax. I felt tears fall down my face and they landed on his shirt, making dark splotches on the black fabric.

He whipped the tears away with his finger, cherishing each one.

"It's alright, you're safe now, Roza, I won't let anything happen to you," He whispered, letting me sit up on his lap. His arms were around my waist, pulling me close to his chest.

I nodded once, the tears still fell, and I felt shaken, like I had just left my body and was suddenly forced back.

"What happened?" He asked me gently.

"I saw these things...ghosts probably, as crazy as it sounds, and then the headache got worse but then when I was with you. . ."

I stopped talking, he didn't have to hear this. He would probably just turn away and return me to Mason and go back to Tasha.

"Please, continue," He whispered encouragingly.

I shook my head, "I don't remember," I lied.

He didn't seem to pick up on this one and nodded. I suddenly felt tired and started to drift to sleep, still wrapped up securely in his arms.

Dimitri POV

I heard Mason's worried voice and walked over, Rose was hurt, her eyes were glassed over, and the pain was clearly there on his features.

"What's wrong with her?" I didn't ask it harshly, instead, I found that each word was laced with concern and passion. Good thing no one picked up on it.

I immediately wanted to pick her up and bring her to a seat in the back, where I could take care of her, but Mason disagreed, saying that he was her boy friend. That made my blood boil, she was _my _Roza, and this boy could never take her away from me, ever.

"Guardian Belikov can take care of her," Alberta told Mason gently.

He hesitated and then handed me Rose, unwillingly, I might add. I took her gently in my arms and breathed in her sweet scent. She truly smelled like roses, sweet, and blissful.

"Roza," I breathed.

She seemed to hear that and breathed in, as if taking my scent into memory. I walked to the seats in the back and sat down. I saw the lines on her forehead and smoothed them out, she relaxed under my touch and I smiled at her adoringly. I truly did love her. So why the hell was I with Tasha? I wondered. _Because you shouldn't even be with Rose in the first place_, came my answer.

She opened her eyes, and the pain slowly disappeared from her features.

Then, to my astonishment she started crying, each tear sliding down her beautiful face seemed to sparkle.

I wiped them off, letting it dissolve onto my finger tips.

"It's alright, everything's ok. I won't let anyone hurt you," I whispered. I heard the irony in my voice, I would hurt her soon, by leaving to be Tasha's Guardian.

She nodded once, believing me. Her eyes sparkled; she believed anything I said, which made it hurt all the more to think about when I had to tell her that I was going away. That wasn't even the worst part, the worst part was that I was leaving to be with Tasha, sure, she was my best friend growing up, but I didn't love her the way I love my Roza.

She fell asleep against me, and I pulled her close to me, kissing her forehead and taking off my coat and let it fall over her.

"Dimka," Tasha said, she sat next to me and looked at my sleeping Roza.

"Yes?"

"You love her, don't you," Tasha accused me.

I shook my head, "No, I don't but I'm just fond of her. She's my student, and I don't want her to get hurt."

She nodded, and looked into my eyes, hers full of love and longing. I knew how she felt, because that's how I felt whenever I was with Roza.

"Do you know what happened to her?" Tasha asked, just for the sake of conversation.

I shook her head, "She didn't want to tell me, she was too tired."

She nodded, and looked out the window. I felt bad that I hadn't taken the conversation further, after all, we would be together everyday pretty soon.

"Tasha, she's just my student," I tried to convince her, though I could barely convince myself.

She nodded absentmindedly, "Yes, I know, but you just never held me that way before."

I felt a sharp pain in my heart, she was right. I would never be able to hold her close like I was doing with Roza, it just wasn't possible.

I felt the plane land and returned Roza to a very angry Mason.

"Thanks," He mumbled and took her in his arms, kissing her on the mouth. I walked away from them and sat next to Tasha again, taking our luggage out. We were finally at the ski lodge.


	2. Chapter 2

Rose POV

The plane touched down, and I felt someone nudge me and I opened my eyes, expecting to see Dimitri's brown eyes staring down at me, only to see a pair of bright blue eyes.

"Mason," I breathed, both shocked and a little disappointed.

He smiled at me, oblivious to my disappointment and stroked my hair as I sat up and climbed out of his lap.

"Hello sleeping beauty, we're here," He said and laughed.

His laugh was sweet, all American, but couldn't compare to Dimitri's husky, sexy chuckle. I wish I could forget Dimitri, but it was like trying to forget who gave me a black eye; impossible.

I smiled back at him, and grabbed my luggage and headed off the plane. I felt Mason's protective presence behind me the whole time, as if waiting to catch me in case I fell. It wasn't surprising considering the episode on the plane.

We walked into the lodge, and was engulfed by a sea of Moroi royals, crowding around and pushing past each other with Dhampir Guardians following them, some with a slightly annoyed expression on their face.

We were all given room keys and as soon as I dumped my bags in my room, I was off to the ski lifts with Mason in toe.

"You ready to get dumped on the slopes?" Mason joked.

I laughed, "In your dreams Ashford."

We walked hand in hand to the ski lifts and rode to the top. Lissa had made a convenient excuse to go to Christian's dorm to help him unpack, undress, more likely.

I made it to the top, when I saw the most amazing, gorgeous, man on the planet. His brown hair framed his face, but that was absorbed in a pathetic excuse of a face, filled with scars. Tasha Ozera's face.

Dimitri POV

As soon as the plane landed, I walked Tasha to her rooms, caring her bags like some servant. I suppressed a sigh and dropped them off in her rooms, turning to leave when she called me back.

"Dimka, let's go on the ski lifts, it'll be fun!" She squealed in delight.

I, on the other hand, had a different definition of fun; and that was going to the gym and working out, something she could, or just wouldn't understand.

"Well. . ." I tried to think of a way to get out of it, but thought of none, "Alright."

She squealed again to my distain and grabbed my arm, pulling me out the door, and handing me my skis at the top of the mountain. I hastily put them on, and once I was done, I realized how beautiful Tasha's face looked in the moonlight. The way the light reflected off her bright blue eyes, filled with child like wonder, the way the light reflected off her long, raven like black hair, smooth as glass, and her face looked even whiter then it was, like porcelain.

I tilted her face up with my chin, desperately trying to lose myself in the kiss, trying to think that it was Rose, and kissed her. I imagined kissing my Roza and the kiss deepened, until it was burning my lips and my tongue felt its way along her fangs. She kissed me back hungrily, our lips moving in perfect rhythm, as if we knew which way to move our mouths. I pictured Rose's beautiful long brown hair and wound my hands in Tasha's raven black hair, but noticed that Rose's had a different feel, softer, and smoother. Tasha's was dark and thick, not at all as smooth as Rose's.

I stopped comparing them, and realized that I was kissing Tasha, not Rose. I was trying to pretend that it was Rose, deluding myself into thinking that this woman here was the woman that I loved, but the task seemed impossible, Tasha was a totally different person, nothing like my Roza.

Then, I heard two sets of feet come onto the mountain, I tried to pull away but Tasha wouldn't let me, and kept a tight grip on my neck. I removed my hands from her hair and gently pried her hands away from me, taking a few steps back, my eyes still filled with adoration, for Rose, not her.

And as if on cue, Rose was standing a few feet away from us, tears in her beautiful brown eyes, one running down her cheek. Her expression was filled with pain and misery. My heart seemed to shatter, she had to watch me kiss Tasha, I could only imagine how bad that must have hurt her.

I heard a male clear his throat behind her, and I noticed Mason Ashford's arms wrapped around her waist.

"Guardian Belikov, could you please move? We're here to ski, not kiss, unlike some people," He hinted harshly.

Ah, I thought, so the boy knew that Rose was jealous and in pain, and he wanted to stop that. A far too natural reaction from her boy friend, and I use the term loosely.

I nodded my head and pulled Tasha behind me and we moved out of their path. I looked down and noticed the obstacles, the sharpened rocks at the beginning of the jump, the snow banks scattered throughout the run, and the logs scattered at the end, with rocks, making the jumps seem impossible; fatal if you weren't a skilled enough skier.

"You aren't pulling this off," I glared at Rose. It wasn't a yes or no question; it was a plane statement. I wouldn't let her risk her neck on these jumps, where she could actually _break _her neck.

She glared back at me, the defiance shinning in her eyes, hiding the pain, which was only visible to me.

"Yeah, and who's going to stop me? My so called _mentor_ that advices me to never break school rules while he is doing so himself?" She shot back at me.

Her words hurt, and a part of me had to agree with her that it was true. I was breaking school regulations, being here with Tasha, and I had broken them with Rose countless times already.

"Rose," I warned, she had to listen to me, I was her mentor.

She shook her head, and looked back at Mason.

"Do you want me to go first?" She asked, her eyes full of false adoration.

He gave her a bright smile, "Yes, of course, ladies first," He gave her one of his chivalrous bows that only he could pull off without looking down right stupid.

She smiled and jumped off the ledge just as my mouth was forming a silent "No."

Rose POV

I jumped off the ledge, leaving my pain on the spot where I was just standing, and throwing caution to the wind as I did countless times.

My eyes scanned the territory, looking at the jagged rocks and wincing. As much as I hated to admit it, Dimitri was right.

Dimitri. That name sent an arrow to my chest, making me lurch and hit a rock that sent me flying. I watched the landscape before me come into view and landed, my skis first, thank god. I guided my skis around the rocks, not letting them throw me off this time, and was headed straight for a snow bank. I felt myself sail in the air, and did a flip while I was at it, and landed back down.

God, he kissed her, I thought, he kissed her and he looked like he really liked it, I added. The way he kissed was like how he used to kiss me, but his walls were completely down, his control had seemed to disappear, and he seemed so free and . . . _happy_.

"Rose!" I heard him yell and looked back, and saw Dimitri waving his arms frantically over his head and pointing in front of me.

I looked in front just in time to see myself heading for a cluster of rocks and wood, and tried to turn, but couldn't pull it off. I tried a jump, and it worked, to my relief. But as I was in the air, I felt fear cling tight onto me, dragging me down to earth at an astonishing pace. And, before I knew it, I had landed on my back, and to top it all off, on _top _of the rocks.

I groaned and my head seemed to fall down onto the snow, as the rocks dug into my back I suppressed a scream, wishing that I had listened to Dimitri.

Dimitri POV

"Rose!" I yelled, my voice was frantic, and I was waving my arms above my head, pointing in front of her, desperately willing her to see what was right in front of her. God, this is the end, I thought, my heart lurching and skipping a few beats. She's going to die and you can't even help her, I thought again.

But, miraculously, she managed to pull off the jump, and I heard Mason cheering and whopping. Tasha was clapping next to me, but I knew far too well to know that this wasn't the end. She had escaped death just by a thread.

I watched her fall out of the sky, like a bird with a broken wing and my mouth formed into a scream which I abruptly held back.

"Rose!" Mason yelled, apparently he couldn't hold it like I could.

I was down the mountain in a few seconds, navigating around rocks and jumping over fallen debris. The only thought in my mind was Roza, my Roza, hurt. I had to get to her. Even though it took me seconds, those seconds felt like years because I felt like I was so far away from her, and I felt her life slipping away second by second.

I got to her, her face was pale, and her eyes were open, unseeing. I pulled her into my arms, cradling her to my chest.

"Roza," I whispered.

She blinked once, and I saw recognition flash across her face. She gave me a hard look as if to accuse me of something. I couldn't remember what that something was. My mind had cleared of everything except my Roza.

"Go back to Tasha, I'm fine," She spat out.

And just like that, I remembered. I kissed Tasha, imagining, comparing her to my love and I immediately felt disgusted with myself. I didn't deserve this angel that I had in my arms right now. I put her down, and she immediately went up the mountain to where Mason was standing, shocked, and pale. The more I looked at the boy, the more I disliked him and didn't trust him. He could protect my Roza, he couldn't even get down the damn mountain to her. But when she flew herself into her arms, and he wrapped his arms around her, I saw he love and compassion in his eyes. I just wished that I could look at Roza like that and not get stares from everyone around me.

I gave them one last look and went inside, my heart heavy, just about to burst with all the sorrow that I had kept in since I had left Roza in the gym, that was our last romantic moment, possibly _the _last one. I would be leaving with Tasha soon, I would be leaving my love soon.

**OK this took me a while cuz i was on a vaca lol so if you guys gimme lik 10 review then imma write more cfhappys hehe x] if ya dont well...den i'll feel unluved nd not write until i get bck D: which is lik in September lol 3 u guys tho lmaoo im cruel ik xD **


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, THIS IS MAJOR IMPORTANTO! SO PLEASE READ! OK FIRST, TO CLEAR THINGS UP, I'M 13, NOT 16 OR 17 MK? So like yeah, thanks for all the comments of saying I'm talented and all that I love you all! And I hope my age doesn't make you guys hate me? Haha OK, so here's the 3****rd**** chapter! Enjoy!**

Rose POV

I was wrapped up in Mason's arms, but wishing that they were Dimitri's. I couldn't seem to forget the look in his eyes, haunted, as if death had finally caught up with him and killed him in one stroke, but torturing him along the way. It killed me inside to think that I was the one that was doing this to him. Hell, if I hurt him at all, I always seemed to feel the same pain go through me only ten times worse. I knew that saying that stuff about him going back to Tasha hurt him, but I couldn't help it. If he only knew how badly I was hurt when I saw him kissing her with such passion and lust.

Mason pulled away, and his eyes went up and down my body, as if searching for bruises or scratches. Finally, after a few minutes, his eyes stopped darting and rested on my face.

He brought his hand up and brushed some dirt and snow off of it and kissed me gently. The kiss deepened until his arms were around my waist and entwined with my hair.

To my surprise, my arms were around his neck, our lips moving in unison.

But I was the one to pull away. I couldn't help but think of Dimitri, his voice filled with worry and so soft and loving. And knowing that that love was for _me _made me feel so guilty kissing Mason right now when I knew that my true love was him.

"Let's get you inside," Mason whispered, his arm was around my shoulders now, and he led me back into the ski lodge. We walked together, pressed against each other and when we arrived at my room, I was almost sorry to part.

Suddenly, I realized that he looked uncomfortable, like the time when he had tried to ask me to the spring dance so many years ago, back when we were only freshmen.

"Look, there's this party tonight, with dancing and karaoke and all that. I was hoping that if you feel well enough, you could come … with me?" He blushed a deep red, to match his flaming red hair.

I smiled, "I'd love to go Mase, when is it?"

"A few minutes," He looked really sheepish, to my surprise. Mason was usually always so confident.

I laughed, "Yeah, sure, just wait here while I get dressed."

He nodded, relieved.

I went into my room, and looked through the stack of dressed I had bought with me. I picked out a short white dress. It was sparkling with sequins and sparkles, it closely resembled the snow falling outside. In the back it was a long v-neck, it was cut almost all the way to my lower back, close to my ass. I laughed at the thought of Mason drooling over me later and slipped on a pair of silver strappy heels and went into the bathroom. I straightened my hair and carefully applied mascara and eyeliner. I put on a light pink lip gloss and I was out the door to greet Mason.

"Whoa," Mason breathed, his green eyes growing wider and wider.

I smiled, "Come on, let's go." I slipped my hand onto his arm and he walked me down the hall and into the elevator. To my shock, Dimitri and Tasha were in the same elevator, and by the looks of it Dimitri and Tasha were going to the _same_ party.

I saw Dimitri's brown eyes flick in my direction, and then I caught him do a double take. His eyes were slightly wide, but I couldn't detect any sense of emotion in his Guardian mask that he seemed to wear everywhere.

I heard Mason clear his throat, "Guardian Belikov, are you going to the party as well?"

Dimitri nodded.

"Oh, the one that Melanie is hosting? Of course! She's one of my best friends!" Tasha squealed.

Mason only nodded in acknowledgement and he wrapped his arms around my waist as the elevator creped down one floor, as if it knew that there was an uncomfortable air and seemed to enjoy it.

"So, Guardian Belikov, you're off duty tonight?" I asked, using his proper name.

I saw him flinch at the sound of my voice and edge away a little bit, as if just hearing my voice put him on red alert.

"Yes, I am, because I will be going away with Tasha tonight," He said, his voice was calm, and there was no emotion.

I felt my blood freeze. Did he just say that he was going away with Tasha tonight? Away from … me? I felt my legs start to shake and my breathing came to an abrupt halt.

"Rose, are you ok?" Mason asked, holding me up.

He was the only thing that kept me from falling. This time, Dimitri didn't even bother to help me stand. He just stood there with Tasha. I felt so hurt and betrayed; he was my mentor, my lover, my best friend, so how could he not see that this was killing me? Or maybe he did see it, but he refused to acknowledge it and refused to help me because he didn't want to get more attached to me.

"Do you want to go back to the room?" Mason asked me just as the doors slid open and Tasha and Dimitri walked out.

I shook my head and followed after them.

"I need you to distract Tasha so I can ask Dimitri what the hell is going on, alright?" I asked Mason, pleading with him.

He sighed, slightly irritated but nodded and reached for Tasha, pulling her aside as I stood in front of Dimitri, blocking his way.

"What do you mean you're going away?" I hissed at him, my voice was cracking from pain and I could barely see through my tears.

He wiped one away that escaped from my eye as gently as if he knew his touch would break me. And it did. I was in pieces then, falling into his arms. He caught me, and rubbed my back, murmuring in Russian to try and calm me. This is what I'll remember when he's gone, I thought, how he held me and always tried to protect me.

"Roza, please, this is already so hard…don't make this any harder than it has to be…Roza, I love you, but we can't be together. I can't take you out without attracting glances from your classmates and from Guardians alike. So it's best if we forget what we had and move on." He pulled away from me and set me on my feet. He made sure I wouldn't fall back down and walked away.

I watched him disappear into the crowd, and yet I could see him towering above them and once he saw Tasha, he said something to Mason and he took Tasha with him onto the dance floor, slow dancing with her, something I thought I would never see, unless it was with me.

Mason was by my side in an instant and he wrapped his arms around me, pulling me onto the dance floor as well. He started to kiss me, but I could barely kiss back, the whole in my chest was ripped further apart now.

I watched Dimitri all night, taking into account every little detail from how his fingers wrapped tightly around Tasha's waist to his burning eyes, sparkling and iridescent in the dim light, as if filled with tears. I studied his brown hair, just above shoulder length, how it felt in my fingers, soft, silky. Being with him made me feel like I was home.

I watched the way he moved on the dance floor, gracefully twirling her and kissing her cheek, but I caught him searching the crowd several times, as if looking for someone, and when he didn't find that person, his mask seemed to crack a little bit more and show how hurt he really was. But he was quick to replace that hurt with a neutral look, gray, calm, and serene.

I knew who he was searching for, but a part of me thought that I was being egotistical, why would he search the crowd for me when he already had her? They would probably get married soon anyways.

I was about to start crying again when our eyes met. I saw love flash across his face, not the fake love and emotion plastered on his face all night when he was with Tasha, but real love. He looked like he had finally found who he had been looking for all night, and that someone had been me. He looked so hurt, as if parting with me hurt him too, but then, to my utter dismay, he looked away again, but I caught sight of something wet sliding down his cheek and onto the dance floor.

"Good bye, Dimitri," I whispered and a tear spilled out of my eye and fell along with his. The time it took for that one little tear to hit the ground, was the time it took for my heart to break, and my world to crumble apart. My love was gone; no one could replace him, not even Mason. Too bad I just realized this now. I looked up to see that Dimitri and Tasha had gone away, probably on their way to an airport. My love was gone…forever…

**OK, review people! Tell me if you liked it! **


	4. Chapter 4

Dimitri POV

I slammed the trunk down on the black Honda, frustrated at both myself and well…mostly just myself. I caused all this and I was too much of an idiot to let it go and just be with Rose, and now I couldn't get out of it.

I looked back at the ski lodge; it was so peaceful and quiet, completely oblivious to what I was going through now. I pictured Rose's face, that image was inscribed into my mind, whenever my eyes closed, I pictured her, crying, and so very far away from me.

"Dimka, we're going to miss our flight," Tasha whispered.

She was trying to be considerate, but it didn't come out quiet right. Her face was alight with happiness, as if she had won a prize. And to think that this is the woman I would be guarding for the rest of my life killed me. She wasn't a bad person, believe me, but Rose was just . . . better.

I nodded and held open the door for her and I climbed into the driver's seat, filled with sorrow and frustration.

We drove to the airport in complete silence. I looked out the windshield, picturing the first day I met Rose, how everyone told me she was untamable and just plane wild. They said that they felt sorry for me because I got landed with her, little did they know that she was the most beautiful Goddess to ever walk this earth.

I felt Tasha's hand on mine and winced, wishing Rose was with me. I could just picture our drive to Arthur's house, she was sitting beside me, nervous, yes, but still Rose. I would relive that moment a hundred times over then leave her now to be with someone I truly didn't love.

Rose POV

I heard a car speed away and looked out my window just in time to see a black Honda disappear from sight. I saw the back of Dimitri's head and started crying again. It was amazing what some one could do to you even if you've only known them for a few short months. I didn't want him to leave, but I wanted him to be happy more than anything. And yet, I was selfish enough to want him to be happy with _me _not her.

I heard a knock on my door and hastily wiped my tears away.

"Come in," My voice sounded dead, even to me.

Mason opened the door and walked right up to me.

"Hey, what's your problem Rose you totally just left me there!" He exclaimed.

I shrugged, unable to speak. He was right; I ditched him when I had promised to be with him the whole time.

"You've been acting all weird since we got here, what is your problem?" He asked me, forcing me to look at him.

I sighed, I couldn't tell him, he wouldn't understand. No one could.

"Just go," I told him.

He looked at me, shocked. I admit, I did feel pretty bad because I just dumped him there when he was there for me when Dimitri had dumped me for Tasha, but now he was just being a jerk.

"Get. Out," I repeated.

He gave me one cold look and walked out of my door.

I sank down to my knees onto the carpet and continued crying. That's all that I was good for now, crying and wishing that Dimitri would mysteriously appear again.

I opened the door and got out of my room, closing it behind me. I didn't know where I was going, but I just needed to clear my head for a few minutes. I walked out of the ski lodge, still in my dress and heels, and into the forest that wasn't far from here. I listened to the owls hooting, it was around 3 am, which means that in a few hours everyone will be asleep. Everyone, except for me. How could I sleep knowing that Dimitri was getting farther and farther away from me? It was agony just watching the car pull away.

I walked deeper in, the snow slipping into my heels. I crunched along, shivering, and looking up at the sky, tears sliding down my face silently. The snow looked so beautiful right now with the moon high above the sky, shinning down and making iridescent colors flash on the snow. It was truly a winter wonderland, too bad I didn't have the heart to enjoy it.

Suddenly, I heard a twig crack behind me and froze, my body tensing up, and I turned around just in time to have someone gag me and blindfold me.

"You finally came out, good, you saved us the trouble of getting you ourselves," A voice hissed in my year.

The sound of his voice made my blood run cold. This wasn't a regular Dhampir or Moroi, the voice sounded like a Strigoi.

Dimitri POV

We drove for hours, apparently the airport was further away then I had expected so, our long silence dragged on. Then, my phone rang and broke the uncertain air and I sighed in relief and answered it.

"Belikov," I answered immediately, it was a reflex.

"Guardian Belikov, I know you are no longer part of our schools team, but this news concerns you," Alberta said, her voice was calm, but I could hear Guardians scrambling around behind her and yelling orders.

"What's going on?" I asked, my eyes locked firmly on the road ahead of us.

"Rose is missing." Alberta whispered.

I slammed on the brakes and we almost hit the blue Toyota in front of us.

"What do you mean, she's missing," I hissed.

"She's gone, there's no trace of her left! Ashford told us that he had a chat with her a few minutes ago, but then he left and he told us that she seemed upset." I heard the phone drop and I heard her voice yelling at everyone to quiet down.

I was in complete shock, oblivious to Tasha's voice calling my name, she seemed so far away. I felt like I was in my own world, all alone, and my only thought was Rose. Where the hell was that girl?

"Alberta, do you have any idea where she is?" I asked, practically fighting to stay in control. I had a problem with my temper, but Rose didn't know that, or so I hoped.

"No, none, I told you, it's like she just disappeared. Well, anyways, I was wondering if you aren't at the airport yet with your charge, if you could come and help out? You know more about her than us," Alberta plead, she was short on Guardians at the lodge because most of them were on vacation themselves.

"Of course, I'll be there right away," I said hastily and slammed the phone shut.

"Where are we going?" Tasha exclaimed, grabbing the steering wheel.

"Back to the ski lodge," I growled, I was getting pretty tired of her whiny voice.

"Dimka, no, we're going to the airport whether you like it or not, I will not have you be with _her _again," She hissed.

"God, that's it! I've had it with your stupid voice telling me what to do, as of now, you're getting your own ride to the airport. So get the hell out of my car Ms. Ozera, before I make you," I growled. I didn't have time for this, I needed to get to the lodge right away and help them find my love.

She looked at me, shocked, but then, reluctantly got out of the car. After her feet were on the pavement, I turned the car around and sped in the opposite direction, jumping lanes and dodging on coming cars. I left a whole trail of angry beeps and curses, but I didn't care. Hell, they could have tried to shoot me and I wouldn't care. I just needed to see my Rose safe, and in my arms.


	5. Chapter 5

Rose POV

I struggled against his arms, I knew it was hopeless, because his arms were like steel bars wrapping tighter and tighter around me.

My screams were muffled by the gag, so that no one could hear me except for him.

I felt something hard hit me on the head and gasped, and blacked out. I couldn't breath; it was like someone was dunking my head over and over again in a dark, endless sea.

I felt myself bumping against something and opened my eyes, expecting to see the dark folds of cloth rapped around my eyes, but instead, I was looking up into a face full of scars. It was nothing like Tasha's face, it was five times worse.

I looked around, I was in the back of a truck, glossy black, with leather seats. I was tied up in ropes and to my astonishment, to my right I saw that Christian was bound up too.

"What the," I thought, I couldn't talk, the gag was still on my mouth.

I looked at the Strigoi and begged him to take the gag off my mouth with my eyes, but he just smiled and shook his head. His laugh sent shivers down my spine; it was cold, full of obnoxious and cruel humor. There was nothing funny about this situation, not when I could die.

So instead of wasting my energy trying to persuade the Strigoi, I looked at Christian. His eyes were still closed, and he looked like he had suffered from a pretty bad beating, judging by the bruises and cuts that were still bleeding.

I felt the truck come to a screeching halt, and the Strigoi picked me up as if I weighed nothing, and we walked into a black mansion. Everything was black; there wasn't another color in sight. There weren't any lamps, or electricity, instead, there were black candles, giving off a dim light. The windows were so dark you couldn't see what was on the other side, for all I knew, there wasn't anything behind the windows.

We walked into the basement, I saw three guards standing in front of the door already, and winced. How was I going to get out of this one? I thought.

He dropped me onto the cold cement floor and I winced as I fell on my arm. I heard another dull thump and assumed that that was Christian.

I tried to turn on to my side so that I could face him, but two hands pushed me down, and one of those hands yanked the gag off, throwing it aside.

I gasped for air, breathing in a lung full of dust and smoke from the candles.

He put me into a sitting position, so that I could face the man standing in the center of the room. He was walking towards us with a purpose, a deadly one, I assumed. His eyes were a blazing red, so bright that they looked fake, almost.

"Ah, Rosemarie Hathaway, I've been expecting you for quiet some time now," He purred.

He flicked his cloak back so that I could see the rest of his face; he was bald, with red cracks spreading along his shaven head. I shivered, but tried to put on a brave front so it didn't look like I was scared.

"What do you want?" I asked quietly, he crept closer, each step made the floor shudder.

He looked at me innocently, "What? Can't we just be friends? I don't want anything that you can't give, after all."

"No, we can't be friends," I hissed.

Strigoi were vermin, a parasite that were a constant trouble in our world because they breed so fast and were so deadly.

"I want you and Mr. Ozera to give Vasilisa Dragomir a friendly phone call, and tell her that what her father has done in the past has come back to haunt him," He smiled.

I froze; they wanted us to call Lisa? A million questions flew through my mind. One of them being who was this guy and what did he have to do with Lisa's dad?

He snapped his fingers and a man came up to us, he had two whips in each hand, and a knife in both as well. I heard Christian stir next to me and someone immediately took off his gag.

"Now, either you cooperate and say what we want you to say, or we will have to hurt you," the man in the cloak laughed.

I heard someone dialing numbers and shivered. I heard the phone ring once…twice…three times…

"Hello?"

Lisa POV

I was sitting in Alberta's room, my phone in my hand, shivering. First Rose had gone missing, now Christian too?

"Look, I don't know where they are, I swear!" I exclaimed again.

Dimitri was glaring down on me, I read his expression, even though it was so carefully masked I could see the hurt, worry, and…was that love? In his almost blank expression.

"Please, princess, if you know anything, you have to tell us. You're not protecting them," Dimitri whispered.

He looked so sad, so tired, and worst of all, he looked so guilty. I could see the guilt eating away at him. His eyes were filled with tears he kept back, but for how long?

I shook my head again, I made my voice more gentle, hoping to soothe him.

"I really don't know where they are, Guardian Belikov. I'm worried about Rose too. She's my best friend, and Christian, he's my boy friend."

I heard Alberta sigh and saw her put her head in her hands.

Then, suddenly my phone rang. I quickly pulled it out of my pocket. I looked at the caller ID, hoping to see Rose, or Christian's picture pop up, but it was a private number.

"Put it on speaker," Dimitri ordered.

I opened it, and did as he said.

"Hello?" I answered, scared and wary.

"Vasilisa Dragomir, I presume?" The voice was ice cold, and sent shivers down my spine, making the hair on my neck stand on end.

"Y-yes?"

"I have your friends, Rosemarie Hathaway and Christian Ozera," the man laughed, his laugh was so unsettling I almost dropped the phone.

I looked at Dimitri; his face was contorted with anger. His hands were clenched into tight fists, the skin stretched white against the bones.

He continued talking, "Your father left some…unfinished business and some debt that has to be paid before he died. Since he is no longer…able to pay his debt off, you'll do it for him."

I froze, my father never gambled or bet, he was always so sweet, always with my mom, me and Andre.

"What are you talking about?" I asked, completely caught off guard.

"I'm talking about either you come here _alone _with the money, or your friends are going to pay."

I heard the phone shift and heard a scream that made my heart stop beating and my blood run cold.

"Say it!" I heard him say, his voice was full of anger.

I heard a whip in the back round, and each time it fell, I heard a scream of agony.

"Rose, say it!" He yelled.

"No!" I yelled out, he was hurting her, whipping her, I felt tears come to my eyes and I felt the follow the previous tear tracks down my face.

I looked at Alberta, her face was pale, drained of color, which was in deep contrast to Dimitri's face, which was flushed red from anger, his eyes were closed and his brows were nit together, crinkling the skin on his forehead.

"Say it, and it'll stop Rose," I heard him say.

"No, I'd rather die then say it," I heard her scream, I heard her crying, choking on sobs.

Then, I heard the whip come down once more, and then I heard her voice.

"Lisa, don't listen to him! Don't come here, no matter what, don't listen to him, stay where you are!" She was still trying to protect me, even now, when she was being brutally hurt. I felt the tears come on faster and faster.

I passed the phone to Dimitri, who immediately picked it up.

"Roza, my Roza," He whispered into the phone, he was crying openly now.

That's when it finally hit me. What he and Rose had wasn't just a strictly professional relationship, it was much more, he cared about her so much that he would express what he was feeling and he would go and find her and save her.

"Dimitri, stay where you are, don't come here," Rose yelled out and I heard the whip crack again.

"Roza, I love you, I'm so sorry," He whispered, Alberta had already left the room to get more Guardians to trace the call.

"You're _Roza _is going to die unless you get the princess here to repay me," the man hissed, and the phone went dead.

**OMFG wow! I love you guys sooo much! When I opened up my email today there were 31 emails! God, I love you guys sooo much! I hoped you liked it, and remember REVIEWWWWW because if you don't then i feel very unloved -.- haha and that leads to less posting of the awesome chapters xD **


	6. Chapter 6

**God guys I'm so sorry I didn't update my mom blocked internet…crazy I know, I couldn't believe that I actually survived haha.**

Rose POV

I only cried out twice, but the rest of the times it hurt equally as bad. The whip came down on the same spot, the few seconds that the whip didn't come into contact with my skin were so short that I barely felt the pain dim.

I heard Dimitri's voice, and immediately told him to stay where he was. I didn't want him to get hurt because I made a stupid mistake and went for some air after he left. I wouldn't let Lissa come either; the last Dragomir couldn't risk being hurt because her reckless friend was too stupid.

I heard the phone click off, and I heard the whip land on the floor. Christian hadn't refined from screaming, so he had screamed the whole time.

"That hurt, didn't it? Well it didn't have to hurt if you had just cooperated."

That voice was so cold that it made me shiver, causing the fresh wounds to sting and rip further. His voice was cold, and yet there was a humorous ring to it. God, he was literally the cruelest Strigoi I had ever met.

I didn't answer him, just stayed perfectly still, I breathed in ruble, and blew it back out. I held my breath, my face in the rugged basement.

I heard his footsteps retreat and I heard the door close.

"Rose," Christian croaked.

I looked up, pushing myself up on my hands, "What, fire boy," I groaned.

"There's a bed in a corner, you should really lie down, the scratches look really bad, they're bleeding."

Thanks for stating the obvious, I thought, but I was touched by his concern.

"Or," I began, trying to make my brain work despite the pain, "Tear the sheets up and wrap them on my back, bind them tight that should stop the bleeding."

"For now," He murmured, but I heard him get up and take the sheets off the bed, tearing the sheets off of the bed and I felt the raw material wrap around me and I wince as the rough material comes down on my skin.

To my surprise, I felt Christian lift me and put me on my back on the bed and I put my hand over my mouth and muffles my scream. The cuts burned when I laid on them but I ignored it for now.

"We got to find a way to get out of here," I told him.

He nodded, "But how?"

I sighed, "I didn't think of that yet, I thought you might be able to."

He shrugged.

"Well, then we just have to hope the Guardians trace the call and get here," Christian whispered.

Dimitri POV

I heard the dial tone and was in complete shock. I had long since whipped my tears away, but my heart was nowhere near the stage of healing. My heart was broken, literally broken into pieces. My face was completely pale, and I was sure that I couldn't get my Guardian mask in place.

"Are you ok? I know she was your student, but you can't look like this," Alberta whispered.

I glared at her, "Read my lips," I hissed, "I. Don't. Care."

She gave me a sympathetic look and sighed.

"What are we suppose to do?" Lissa asked.

"Call the Guardians, Guardian Belikov, we're going to trace this call," Alberta whispered in my ear.

I nodded, clipped my ear piece on and was immediately connected to the whole staff.

"Get to Guardian Petrov's room now. Don't ask questions, just get here," I told them, my voice hard.

I got a few simultaneous Yes's and a few OKs, but those didn't reassure me.

"I'll trace the call and I'll find the location," I growled and held my hand out for the phone. The princess reluctantly gave me her phone and I grabbed it. I searched through her recent calls and found the unknown number. It put on private, but I easily searched through it and plugged it into the laptop that was on the table. I searched the location and found it, but it was blocked from view. You needed a password to get into it.

I smashed my fist on the keyboard.

"Dammit!" I cried.

Alberta turned to me, shocked. She had never seen me show any emotion.

I turned to her, "It needs a password."

She nodded and came over to look at the laptop. I heard the rest of the guardians come in and pile near us, trying to get a better look.

"How are we supposed to crack this password?" Stan asked.

"You got me," Alberta murmured.

"Well not me," I mumbled. I double clicked on the location, zoomed out and looked at the coordinate map.

"42 degrees north, and 17 degrees east," I mumbled.

I looked back at the password, and put a hand under my chin. I tried typing more than four letters, but it didn't go beyond four.

"Belikov what the hell are you doing?" Stan mumbled.

"Cracking the password," I mumbled back and typed the numbers 42 and 17 in. As I had predicted, it fit perfectly.

"Bingo," I smiled.

"They're in Spokane, and by the looks of it the house is huge," Alberta whispers.

I nodded once, "Let's go and get them, then."

I was so eager to get to my Roza that I wasn't acting like myself. I wasn't even being rational here! Right after I said those words I realized that we needed a plan. The princess had to go "alone," or we had to just be really quiet so that they wouldn't notice that we're here.

"Belikov, you aren't thinking clearly, they need money, and the princess has to go alone," Alberta emphasized the word alone.

I nodded again, my forefinger and my thumb pinching the bridge of my nose in frustration.

"She could go in her car and we could follow behind, preferably in something black," I mumbled. I was just thinking of my Roza, I couldn't think of anything else.

"Yes, but that doesn't help us get the money we need," Alberta threw the papers down in frustration.

I sighed and got up and started pacing. I felt the rest of the Guardians eyes on me, and was about to snap at them to stop, but kept my mouth shut. I had to think clearly, which was impossible at this point.

"We could give her a suitcase and copy a few hundred dollar bills," Alberta whispered.

I croaked out a laugh, "Right, like they won't notice a bunch of colorful, thin, green pieces of paper."

I felt the Guardians glare at me, "You aren't helping," Alberta whispered.

I sighed, "I know, I'm just frustrated that I couldn't keep her safe," I whispered.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked into a pair of bright green eyes and blond hair.

"We all are," the princess whispered.


	7. Chapter 7

**Ok come on people review! After this chapter I refuse to write a single word until I hit 90 reviews haha yes I know I'm an evil demon sent from hell but IDC! Lol any ways I feel unloved -.- and that really sucks haha so review your butts off! Remember, the goal is 90! **

Rose POV

I glared at him, my frustration and pouring starting to gain momentum. They were threatening to burst and it was like I had let them out the back door.

"Christian are you nuts? Do you want Lissa and the Guardians to _die?_ They shouldn't come here! They should stay where they are, we can't risk their lives just because we were too stupid, fire crotch! God! Sometimes you're the biggest idiot I've ever met!" I yelled at him, but once the last word was out of my mouth, I regretted all of it.

His face crumpled with pain, as if I had taken a cheap shot and hit him below the belt. He turned away from me, hiding his sorrow and just glaring at the wall opposite me.

He had helped me so much, and yet I was yelling at him because I didn't have a better way to let out my anger? I shouldn't let this get to me, I have to figure out how to get us out, I thought. But first, I paused to think, I have to apologize to him.

I sighed and glared at the grey ceiling, filled with cracks and dust, and, maybe even a little dried up blood? It was hard to tell.

"Christian," I whispered, using his real name instead of a few nick names I came up for him, "I'm sorry, I was just so upset that I got us both into this mess. If it was me, then I could handle it, but I got you into this too."

I desperately willed him to understand and forgive me. No such luck. He didn't even turn around, just kept on staring blankly at the wall. It was as if he didn't even know that I was in the room.

It broke my heart to see him so upset, and to know that I caused it made it five times worse.

"Christian," I whispered, "I'm sorry."

It was a last resort. But, it was amazing what those three little words could do, sometimes, if you were lucky, they could work miracles beyond your imagination.

He sighed and turned to face me, "For Lissa's sake I'll forgive you, now, let's start turning your Rose Hathaway brain and make a plan to get out of here."

I smiled, "There's my fire crotch."

That remark, to my surprise earned a smile from him. I looked at the walls, analyzing our cell. It wasn't much, but they had made sure that there wasn't anything we could use as a weapon, that's why we weren't restrained, I thought. We didn't have any cuffs put on us, they had all been taken off. That meant that they were so sure that we couldn't escape that they let us move and talk. That also meant that the guards outside were pretty damn good.

"The guards must be pretty good if they're going to let us talk like this and be able to move around," I whispered, mostly thinking aloud.

I felt a hard bulge in my pocket and pulled out my phone. I gasped, normally I wouldn't think that seeing my phone meant anything, but this was like a gift from heaven.

"God the Strigois are pretty stupid. They didn't even search me," I handed him the phone, which had no signal.

He smiled, "Well, we could call someone I guess, as soon as we're out of here," he looked around, and sighed.

"If we get out of here, that is," He mumbled.

I looked around and then looked back at his face. His face was a shocking shade of white, it was like a piece of paper, that white.

"Christian, when's the last time you um fed?" I asked him, looking at him closer.

He shrugged, trying to hide his discomfort, "A week or two?"

I sighed, this wasn't good. I was the only food he had, yeah, this really sucked. If we were going to be locked up for a while, then he was going to go crazy, which was probably what they were counting on.

"Ok, um do you think you need something to um drink?" I asked him, looking at him shyly for the first, and probably last, time in my life.

He shook his head, "I'm not going to feed off you, Rose, no matter how thirsty I get."

I heard the door open and he was suddenly at the opposite end of the room, with a vacant look in his eye. I knew it was an act because I've seen it before.

And in strode the Strigoi, his hood back on, and once again all I saw was that pale white face, no features, and the blood red eyes.

"Rosemarie, Christian," He nodded towards both of us and gave us a pleasant smile, as if we were having a pleasant chat.

"Now, we both know that if your princess doesn't come, you will die. But, to make things more interesting for me," He turned to Christian, "If you kill her, then I will give you two days to make a break for it, I'll tell my men to stand down. If you drink from her, not completely drain her, but just drink for her so she's weak enough so that my human guards can take her, then I'll give you a two day head start, what do you say?"

I clenched my jaw tight to keep from yelling at him. I knew it was going to come to this, I just knew it. What I hadn't realized is that they would let him go if he had drank from me.

I looked at Christian anxiously, keeping my face blank, but my eyes were swimming with hope that he wouldn't listen to him.

He looked up and met his gaze, "There is nothing you could give me that will convince me to drink from her," He turned away again to look at the wall.

I expected the Strigois face to turn with anger, but instead, he smiled and laughed.

"Give it time and you'll be thirsty enough to drink from her," He strode out of the room, letting in two human guards to glare at us.

I looked at him again, but didn't say anything. I was going to die soon, I knew that, and, to my surprise, I was actually pretty OK with it.

Dimitri POV

I looked at the rest of the Guardians and shrugged the princess's hand off.

"We have the coordinates, we have the address, when do we set out?" I asked them, to my surprise, I had regained part of my mask, but the hurt and pain was still there, buried by only a thin layer of my calmness.

Alberta shook her head, "We need a better plan, Guardian Belikov, you, of all people know how many things can happen if the plan isn't fool proof."

I glared at her, she was picking at how Ivan had died. My partner hadn't made up an accurate guarding plan, and Ivan was left alone for a few hours while he was out at a restaurant. It was my night off, but I hadn't strayed far, unlike him, so I heard his scream, and I saw his body. Lifeless, drained of every drop of blood and happiness his body had contained. I could picture Rose lying just like that, spread eagle or curled up, a light blue, her lips the same shade, and ice cold.

I shivered and my glare faltered. I shook myself out of the memory and sighed, looking back onto the carpet.

"Yes, Guardian Petrov, I understand that we need a plan," I began, "But you need to understand that we are on the verge of losing two very valuable students."

She looked at me, and I heard murmurs of agreement, and brought my head up, my brown hair framing my face.

"He's right, we have to get there fast to retrieve them," Stan agreed.

"You are all missing the point! This Strigoi won't let the princess in unless he's sure she's alone, and unless she truly has the money, she won't be let in. That means we can't go in unless we're sure that she's in, then we can do a surprise attack."

Alberta's voice was furious and shaking with rage, she felt like no one understood her. God, did I know that feeling!

"Then we'll get her some fake money, it's not that complicated, we just have to make it look like it's real," Stan added, a little flustered by how much emotion he was seeing.

"Even if we get that far, how are we going to trace her progress as she goes into the house?" Alberta asked.

"We could hide an ear piece in her ear, he hair's long enough, it should hide it pretty well," I put in, glad we were getting somewhere.

Everyone looked at me, and I got more nods of approval.

"We can do a stake out, near the house, but not quite near enough for them to pick it up on their radar, something like that," Alberta whispered.

"Then let's do this," Lissa whispered, standing up.

She stood tall and strangely angelic and powerful at the same time. It was hard to believe because she was usually so delicate.

I nodded my approval, and I looked at the rest of them.

"Let's split into teams and do this," Alberta whispered.

Suddenly, I was blown away by how fast everyone and everything was organized.

"We're coming for you, Roza, hold on," I whispered.


	8. Chapter 8

**GUYS WHAT IS UP? SERIOUSLY…..how come I didn't get my 90 reviews? D: that seriously depresses me -.- well anyways, until I get up to 90 I at 78 btw haha I will not write a single word that has to do with the story o and btw a special thanks to deliciouse! Thank you so much! I'll update as soon as the meanies out there review lmao ik ik im an evil bitch, haha. 3 3 **


	9. Chapter 9

Rose POV

I gradually fell asleep that night, to the sound of footsteps above me and hushed voices. Their voices were low, but I could catch snips of what they were saying.

"When do you think he'll drink from her?" Were one of the phrases that were used tonight. I slept on my side, tears rolling down my face, both out of shame and out of humility. Shame, because I couldn't protect Christian or Lissa when they called her, I was supposed to be trained to protect Moroi, which included Christian. But I was too caught up in my own pain to care about him, I even yelled at him even though he did nothing wrong.

For humility, because I let that Strigoi know that I was in pain. If Dimitri were-…Dimitri…That sent my heart breaking once again, sinking lower and lower until you couldn't even catch the once iridescent glow that it once had. Sure, he was there for the phone call, that's because it was natural for him to worry about me. But who's to say that once he hears that I'm ok, or sees that I'm ok he won't leave again? Who's to say I'll be able to live through him leaving me, again?

I heard Christian stir on the bed next to me and draped the only blanket over him. I didn't want him to catch cold, then we would both be even more screwed then we were now.

"Rose, come on, stop crying," He moaned.

Crap, he heard me.

I wiped up my betrayal tears and sniffled a little bit.

"I'm not crying, the dust here just gives me allergies," I mumbled, god, that excuse sucked! What happened to my awesome lying record?

He sighed, "Sure, sure, just go to sleep, we can think of something tomorrow."

I heard him start snoring again and smiled, he was out like a light. Time to figure some stuff out. The harsh red scraps on my back were beginning to heal, but they still stung, which meant that I couldn't sleep on my back, or, for that matter, sleep at all. I climbed over Christian and stood up, walked to the window that was at least 4 feet above me and admired it.

That was our only escape route, that's what I was going to shoot for, no, that's what _we're _going to shoot for, I corrected myself. I was so used to being by myself, which I had almost forgotten about Christian.

The stars were shinning outside, bright and a brilliant white. The sky was a midnight background, so beautiful, and in contrast to the white. It made everything stand out, and the moon, hung gracefully in the middle of the sky, a neat crescent. It looked so peaceful, so perfect, nothing seemed to be wrong, or at least the atmosphere outside this mansion didn't acknowledge it.

I heard a few hoots and saw an owl soar gracefully through the sky, catching a bird in its beak, and taking it down. That brought me back to reality, away from the perfect night, and back to where I was. The world was full of hunter and prey. The hunters, in my world, being the Strigoi, and the prey, being the Moroi. What that bird didn't have was a guardian to risk their life for them, but the Moroi did. That's what was wrong with this messed up world. The Moroi should learn how to fight too, if they did, then Dimitri would have never accepted her offer to be her Guardian.

I sighed and turned away from the bloody scene shattering the peaceful background. It hurt too much, because it was such a shock of reality.

I looked back at Christian, seeing him just laying there, facing me, the moonlight streaming down on his pale face, making his black hair shine. He looked so vulnerable, just like that bird, but I was there to protect him. I realized, after seeing such a small scene that probably happened every night, that I had to take my job as Guarding Lissa much more seriously. That bird was just in flight, and his life was gone in a few seconds. That's how fast Lissa could die. That's how fast _I_ could die.

Dimitri POV

We were packing up stakes and head sets, going over our plan one more time. We found a few empty jets the Academy had brought with them and boarded them in a few seconds. I felt someone pull me into a closet as I passed by and suddenly, I was staring into the bright blue eyes of Tasha Ozera.

Only, she didn't look like herself. Her raven black hair was tangled up with roots and sticks, her face was caked with mud and her clothes were torn. I felt a pang of guilt for the way I had acted, it was completely irrational, and completely unlike _me_. I sighed, all this happened because one person was taken away, that person didn't seem like much to the rest of the Guardians in this school, but I would have given anything to take her place, wherever she was.

"Dimka Belikov, I can't believe you did this to me," She hissed in my ear.

I sighed, "Tasha, I'm sorry, that was rude of me."

"Rude?" She exclaimed, "It was more than _rude_ Dimka, and that's why you're going to pay. This is for your own good, once she's out of the way, no one will get into any more trouble because of her. _Especially_ you."

I glared at her, my body automatically tensing up. She looked dainty and delicate, but I knew what she was capable of.

She pulled out a phone and dialed a number.

"Send them, make sure you leave the boy with the blue eyes alone, but kill the girl, I don't want any of her left," She hissed.

She flipped the phone shut, and I was already in motion. I threw her against the wall and was suddenly on top of her.

"If she's harmed, even if one hair if pulled out because of you, I will finish you, and I will make your death so painful that you will wish that the Strigoi had finished you the night Mr. Ozera's parents were killed," I hissed in her ear, I felt her shudder and whimper. I felt her whole body shake with both rage and fear.

She looked me in the eye, her bright blue eyes swimming with tears, "I'm sorry, please Dimka, don't kill me over her, she's not worth it," she was suddenly desperate now, as if I would listen to her.

"She is worth _everything _to me, you are worth _nothing_," I pulled her up and clasped her hands behind her back in a steal grip. She whimpered but I kept tightening my grip.

I marched her out and Alberta and the rest of the Guardians who were going looked at me, astonished.

"We have to get there, _now, _Ms. Ozera had a pack of Strigoi behind her, she sent them to Rose's location, and in other words, she set this whole thing up. Which means, forget the plan, we have a new one," I handed a struggling Tasha to Daniel and Christopher, in the brief exchange of captives, she tried to run for it, but I pushed her down.

We all boarded the plan, a little shocked, especially me. I couldn't believe that my child hood friend had betrayed me, and _she _was the one that had set this up the whole time. It had nothing to do with the princess's father.

We all sat down close to each other, all seven pairs of eyes glared at me, in frustration and admiration.

"What the hell are we going to do now, Belikov?" Stan growled.

"We don't need the fake money, she set this whole thing up just so I would go and be her Guardian. She knew I wouldn't leave Rose, so she had to make me, somehow. By the time we get there, there will be a pack of Strigoi at the house already, and their only target now is Rose. So, someone has to keep the princess here on the plane while the rest of us fight."

My plan was pretty simple, I had thought it through once, which was really unlike me. God, this whole situation wasn't like me. I was supposed to be in control, just like Rose had said, but instead, I was freaking out and being irrational, just like her. How could I call myself her mentor if I acted like an ignorant teenager?

"Belikov," Alberta sighed, and motioned for me to follow her to the back of the plane.

I looked at her, she was a few inches shorter than me, but she was still head Guardian, so I had to listen.

"I know you have feelings for Rose," her voice was hushed, and I felt my heart stop beating.

"But you have to hide them better, that is, if you want the whole Guardian group to know, then be my guest and continue, but if you don't want them to know, then go back to your old self and _think things through_," She gave me one last look, and then walked away, back to where the Guardians were sitting, faces hard and in deep conversation.

I was thoroughly shocked, and realized that she was right. If I kept on being this… _stupid, _then eventually everyone will know. I struggled to find the Guardian mask I had worn for so many years, and finally slipped it back on.

I walked back to them, sat down, and the conversation went on. I looked straight ahead, absorbing all the information, and yet, my mind was somewhere else, it was where Rose was, where ever she was.

**A special thanks to xoxdreamrrxox she's kick ass people! 3 3 **


	10. Chapter 10

**Oh my god, 104! Haha, thanks guys! Special thanks to deliciouse, you're amazing! You're the reason Tasha was involved with this in the first place haha you helped me develop the idea!**

Rose POV

I heard a crash upstairs, and millions of footsteps. I opened my eyes, and jumped up from my crouched position in front of Christian's bed.

I heard voices that weren't hushed anymore, full of rage and confusion, something rare for a Strigoi; well, the confusion part at least.

"Natasha sent us, for the girl. You can keep the boy, finish Ephraim's job, make him the Strigoi he was meant to be," the voice was so unfamiliar, and yet he knew Christian and I.

"We were going to wait it out, the boy could have killed her," the calm and playful edge he had when he was down here with us was long gone, replaced by rage.

"Well, it's her order, and she paid us pretty well so we're going to get the job done," that was the unfamiliar voice again.

I looked at Christian, who was sitting bolt right up.

"Look," I whispered, my voice soft, "I'm going to try and boost you up through the window, OK?" I pointed to the rectangular opening, carved out of the cement.

His eyes went wide, "No, they're after you, I'll boost you up."

I shook my head, my thoughts playing back to the owl and the bird. The bird didn't have a chance, didn't have a protector, but Christian did. I wouldn't let him die, even though I was pretty sure if we were going to live through this day, that he would go on hating me.

"You're not strong enough," Before he could argue, I pulled him off the bed and made a little step with my hands linked firmly together.

"Come on, go, they're coming," I whispered urgently, the voices had stopped and I could hear footsteps again.

He sighed, gave me a pained look that broke my heart; as if there was anything left for him to hurt.

He put his foot on my linked hands and I winced, but mustered up my remaining strength and he sailed through the window. I heard a dull thud as he hit the ground, and just as he landed, I saw the lock click and scrambled as far away from the window as I could, standing up in the corner. I pulled the silver stake out from beneath my shoe and turned to face about a dozen Strigoi, eyes red, teeth bared.

One of them came forward, "Hello princess, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way, you're choice."

I smiled, despite my fear, "The hard way it is."

Dimitri POV

The plane touched down, I was already up with my stakes in my pockets. I was the first one out and unfolded the address I had and found the rental van waiting for us. I waited for the others to get in, and got into the driver's seat.

"Belikov, do you know where you're going?" Alberta asked gently.

My tension was about to break through my mask, and I knew that my agitation would show if I said anything, so I just nodded.

I floored it, and we were dashing out of the airport, cutting through lanes and leaving angry honks and shouts behind.

Roza, my Roza, please hold on, I'm almost there, I thought quietly.

"Belikov, we're going to crash soon," Stan whispered, I looked in the rearview mirror and sure enough, he was clutching the seats as if his life depended on it.

"No," I said, my voice even, "We won't, plus, this helps us avoid unnecessary time loss."

The only thoughts I could reason together were centered on Roza, and how much I regretted leaving her. I cursed Tasha a hundred times over, and I promised myself that if Rose was dead or hurt, then I would do the same exact thing to her; only ten times worse.

Rose POV

I tensed up, adrenaline pumping through my veins, my heart felt like it was going to blow right out of my chest.

I didn't even see them jump on me, they were too fast. Suddenly, I felt pain, stabbing, shocking pain flood through me. I felt their bites and scratches, and I felt their claws rake against my body.

I forced my eyes open and I saw them on top of me. I staked three of them, but instantly more took their place.

I forced my way through them and back away into another corner, I was bleeding from several places and I couldn't feel my left leg.

"We didn't have to do this, we could have just broken your neck and burned you, that way you wouldn't have felt anything," One of them hissed.

I glared at him, and before he could react of move, I threw my stake and it went into his heart. They came at me again, from all directions. My back was against the wall, no where to go but up. I decided to run up the wall. I ran up the wall, grabbed onto the planks of the ceiling and flipped over them. I grabbed my stake from the Strigoi and I was armed again. I was also losing consciousness. I couldn't keep this up much longer.

Dimitri POV

We were rounding the corner when I saw Christian. I screeched to a halt and rolled down the window.

"Christian, where's Rose?" I asked him, my voice urgent. She should have been with him.

He looked up, he looked like he had been crying.

"She's in there with dozens of them, she saved me instead of herself, she's probably dead."

My heart stopped and it didn't seem like it could continue beating. I heard Alberta tell Christian to come in, and I was off. I jumped out of the car, stakes in hand, and ran into the black mansion.

"Excuse me, this is private property," a Strigoi hissed.

I snarled, and staked him. I ran inside, and sure enough, there were screams from the basement.

"Roza," I cried out.

Rose POV

I heard his voice and I stopped, so did the Strigoi. I couldn't move anymore, my body was crying out in pain, and there were still about four of them left. I collapsed onto the hard floor, and I felt the pain begin anew.

I heard the door open, and suddenly, my pain was gone. I didn't bother to open my eyes anymore; I was safe, my Russian god had come for me.

Dimitri POV

I slashed my stakes across their face, while staking the ones behind me. My anger burst out and suddenly, I didn't want them to just _die_. I wanted them to die a painful death. I wounded many with the stakes, but not enough to kill them, just enough to make them scream in agony. There were only four left, I'm guessing that my Roza took down the two in the corner.

Rose, I thought suddenly, and killed the last two. She was lying on the floor, spread eagle. There was a pool of blood beneath her. I picked her up, and she opened her eyes, pain clouding her features.

"Roza, Roza," I whispered her name over and over again.

"Comrade" She whispered, and smiled, "I knew you wouldn't listen to me."

Her eyes closed, and I ran outside, cradling her close to my chest, letting the blood stain my shirt.

Alberta and Stan saw her first and they both gasped.

"What happened in their Belikov?" Alberta asked, any ounce of control she had before had suddenly vanished.

"No time to explain, I just need her healthy and well again. Don't we have Olendisiki with us?" I asked them, searching for the doctors familiar face.

Alberta nodded, "In the back."

I felt Rose whimper and stir in my arms. I was relieved that she wasn't dead yet.

"Roza, it's ok, everything's going to be fine. _You're _going to be fine, I love you," I whispered, and kissed the top of her head.

She shook her head, such a feeble gesture, she couldn't speak anymore.

"Roza, I love you, you can't leave me like I left you. I will never do that to you ever again," I whispered, crying now. The tears splattered against her face, clearing away the blood.

We were in the back of the van now. Christian was staring over the seat, horrified.

"She gave her life for me, and I didn't even help her," He mumbled, his blue eyes were swimming with tears as well.

I put her on the stretcher we brought along, and Dr Olendisiki began to take off her clothes. I gasped at what I saw next.

She was covered with bite marks, bruises, and a hell of a lot of blood. I held her hand close to my heart, trying to give her my strength.

_It's not use, _that annoying logical voice in my head whispered mockingly, _She's dead, and it's all because of you. If you hadn't left her, she would be fine. You're basically trying to bring a corpse back to life._

"No," I whispered, arrogant, I looked at Roza again, deathly pale, and cried harder, "You have to stay with me, Roza, _stay with me_."

Rose POV

I felt his arms around me, and I knew that I was finally home. After those long hours, just being with him for a few minutes would have been enough. He was my angel of mercy, sent to relieve my pain, and it hard worked.

I was slipping into unconsciousness, barely aware that he was running and whispering to me. I only caught three words; but those three words were the words that I would always remember, those were the words that I would later look back on, that saved my life.

"I love you too," I thought silently, but my lips just couldn't seem to form the words.

I was aware that he was beside me, holding my hand, and the pain seemed to start again, but just by touching him made it dim and eventually fade into background music.

"No," I heard him whisper, "You have to stay with me, Roza, _stay with me_."

That was his voice, so sweet, but full of such pain that it made my heart crack and splinter. I opened my eyes a crack and was staring at the gray carpet in a van. I turned my head and I was suddenly staring into a pair of brown eyes, filled with tears that were pouring out.

"I'll always stay with you," I whispered.

I felt a tug and pull on my back and saw Dr. Olendisiki sewing and cleaning my wounds.

I looked away and I was suddenly drowning in those brown eyes, like two pools of chocolate. C

He gave my hand a squeeze and planted a kiss on my forehead.

"And I with you, my love, forever."

I nodded, "Forever."

And then my eyes closed and I was drowning under sweet blue green waves of the deepest sea, but I didn't mind because he was with me, hanging onto me, and he would always do that, I realized, protect me, never hurt me, because he loves me.

Dimitri POV

I watched her eyes close and stroked her eyelids with a careful finger.

"Is she going to be ok?" I asked, looking up into two clear pools of blue.

Dr. Olendisiki nodded, "She's a real trooper, Belikov, take care of her."

I nodded, I was going to do more then take care of her, she was my life anymore, I was going to cherish, love, and protect her. Like I had said before, I would stay with her forever.

Eventually, she finished cleaning Rose up and I pulled Rose close, onto my lap, watching her chest rise up and down in a steady heartbeat.

"I love you, so much, Roza," I whispered into her ear.

I smiled as I saw her lips form into a smile. She was asleep, and yet she could still hear me.

"Belikov, you have some nasty wounds yourself," Alberta whispered from the front seat. I looked up and saw her leaning over to look at me.

I shook my head, "I'll be ok, it's just a few cuts, nothing major."

I looked at my arm, and sure enough there was dry blood on it, and suddenly I felt the pain that I had never known was there.

"Don't down play it, you can't protect her if you're going to pass out from blood loss," Alberta murmured and wiped away the blood and put a bandage on it. I smiled, sometimes she was so caring, and sometimes she was just as arrogant as Rose.

"Thank you, Guardian Petrov," my eyes were still fixed on Rose, watching her sleeping form.

She nodded and turned to stare up front again.

The van stopped, and we immediately boarded the jet. I sat in the back, Rose still in my arms, as soon as I sat down, her eyes opened.

Rose POV

"Hey," I whispered, groggy from sleep. My mind wasn't functioning, so I was probably delusional. I barely remembered what happened, but I did remember the Strigoi descending on me. So, I thought, this must be heaven, I must be dead. I was with my love again, my love that should have been in Pennsylvania with his new charge. He wouldn't have come back and abandoned her, he would have stayed with her.

He smiled, and that smile seemed to shatter my world, it was too _real, _it only made me hurt worse to know that I could never see him smile like that ever again in the real world. I was definitely dead now. I started crying, I missed him so much, and this illusion was just like an exact copy of him, the real Dimitri was with Tasha, and he wouldn't be coming back, unless it was for my funeral.

"Roza," He whispered, whipping my tears away, his fingers were gentle, just as I had remembered. "Why are you crying, my love?"

That only made me sob harder. I would never hear him say that in real life, for all I knew he was going to disappear in two seconds.

"You aren't real, I'm dead," I sobbed. My voice was cracked and full of pain.

His face crumpled with painful memories, not at all how I would have picture him, I pictured him disappearing as soon as I said those words.

"You aren't dead, Roza, you're alive, and you're with me," He whispered, stroking my hair.

I shook my head, "I can't be alive, those Strigoi killed me, I'm imagining things," I whispered, refusing to believe him.

He pulled me up closer to his face, so close that I could have leaned in to kiss him, but I didn't. I didn't want him to disappear, even though it would hurt less when he disappeared later.

"You're imagination isn't so great, you can't imagine this," he whispered and leaned down to kiss me.

The kiss was pure bliss, but it was filled with sadness, and unity. We were finally united, two pieces that fit so perfectly that they molded into one.

I felt my tears mingle with his, and I hung onto him, his arms supporting me and holding me up.

I was the one that broke it, I was overjoyed.

"You're the real Dimitri! I'm not dead," I mumbled in awe.

He smiled, god I loved his smiled, I thought.

"Of course you're alive, you're with me, my love, I will always love you, always," He whispered.

I smiled, "I love you too, so much."

He nodded, "I know," and kissed me again.

**OK, this isn't the end people! I made it longer though haha so yeah, this isn't the end of the book**


	11. Chapter 11

**OMG thank you guys so much! 123 reviews so far haha, OK, as I promised, I'm continuing When Your Gone. So, have fun!**

Dimitri POV

I pulled away, brushing her hair away from her peaceful face, I felt someone sit down next to me, and to my surprise it was Alberta.

"Guardian Belikov," She began, staring straight ahead, "Take care of her."

I nodded once, and gave her a small smile. I expected something a lot worse.

"I won't ask you guys to end this because I know how you feel about her, we've all experienced something like that once in our life," she whispered the last part.

My eyes never left her face, so I saw the brief flash of pain cross her features, but then it was quickly brushed away, hidden by that mask we wore so often.

I nodded again, and she left, leaving the seat empty again. I propped Roza up into a sitting position, wishing that the flight was a lot longer than a few hours.

I felt her move around in my lap and immediately looked down again, just in time to see her brown eyes open, big and curious, like a new born child seeing the world for the first time.

"Roza," I smiled, kissing her forehead, leaving my lips there for several seconds before pulling away.

She hadn't reacted, to my surprise. I followed her eyes to my arm, resting limp on the arm rest.

"You're hurt, no wonder you were so pale," she whispered, and touched the blood encrusted jacket.

I shook my head, "I'm fine," I had just began to feel the dizziness, but she didn't have to know that; not when she was just starting to heal.

She shook her head back, and pressed the flight attendant button.

A girl dressed in black came towards us with a smile plastered to her face, it was so fake that I almost laughed out loud.

"Yes?" She asked me instead of Rose.

"I need a first-aid kit here," Rose growled.

The flight attendant's eyes immediately left mine and looked at Rose, as if she were just noticing her. She straightened her tie and nodded and walked away, to return moments later with a glass of water and a first-aid kit.

Rose took it and sent her away. She opened it and started rummaging for a small towel.

"Take off your jacket," She instructed.

I sighed and nodded, to reveal my white shirt. The sleeves were cut off, it was an undershirt, I had never expected to take off my duster.

She soaked the towel in water and started cleaning my wound. I winced as the water hit my skin and seemed to run into the whole punctured through my skin.

"Rose," I growled, wishing she would just stop.

She shook her head, "No, can't do that comrade, I have to clean it first."

I looked up at her again, she looked like a stern nurse, fixing up a patient. What was strange is that her eyes were fixed firmly on my arm, almost as if by force.

I gave a low chuckle, and pulled away gently.

"I'm fine, just give it a minute to heal," I told her gently.

She shook her head and reached for me again. I sighed and let her grab hold of my arm and she dabbed at it with gauze and wrapped it up with a huge pressure bandage.

"This should stop the blood flow," she mumbled, her head falling onto my chest.

I looked at her, she looked exhausted, as if she hadn't slept in days. Her face was much too pale, and her eyes had a hollow look to them.

"Rose," I began, this wasn't a subject I wanted to talk about, but I had to know, "What exactly happened in that house."

Rose POV

As soon as he asked me that I froze. The house, I thought, my face became a chalky white, and I seemed to be back in that black mansion, in the basement, wishing desperately for the pain to stop. I would have done anything to make the pain stop, I would have done anything to make the whip stop coming down.

But my thoughts were in vain. It kept coming down, like a crack of thunder right before it hits the earth, making the long awaited crops whither in fright and burn. It made the cracked ground hiss and sputter with pain. That's what I was thinking when I heard the whip the first time. It was a smack of reality, of where I was and what could happen if you couldn't defend yourself.

Then my mind wondered to when the Strigoi began their descent. It was like I was there, out of my body, watching myself be attacked and I could only utter my silent screams. I could see the hunger in their ravenous blood red eyes, full of hate, menace, and above all _thirst._

I watched their claws rake across my body, I watched myself cry out, I could feel myself staring at nothing, just the ground, my eyes wild with pain and my features tormented into what I had thought a permanent mask of agony.

"Roza," I heard _him _whisper, but I was long gone. His voice might as well have been far away, it sounded as if it was getting lost with the wind.

I watched the Strigoi continue to claw at me and cringed, I wanted it all to end. I wanted everything to just stop, so I could return to my body and defend myself, but again, the thought was futile. I stood there, watching, staring, frozen.

"Roza," the voice that called me was louder now. It shocked me enough to speed onto the part where I was being treated in the van.

I was grateful of the change, and I slumped in relief. But when I saw my body, I gasped, it was battered, bloody, and full of scratches from countless white claws. Then, I saw _him._ He was cradling my body close to his, he was mumbling words I couldn't hear, I was too far away. It was as if I was watching someone else's life, not mine, from a distance and I couldn't move. I watched as Dr. Olendisiki treated me with care, I watched my eyes close. I saw anguish flash across his perfect feature, and I couldn't breathe for a second.

"Am I dead?" I wondered, "Was the plane ride really a dream after all?"

"Roza," He yelled.

My eyes snapped open, I was collapsed on his chest, my vision was blurred but when I blinked again, I saw Dimitri, Alberta, Christian, Lissa, and Stan looking down on me in both shock and worry.

"Are you ok?" Dimitri asked, making my eyes immediately focus on his face.

I nodded, and to my shame, began to cry. I couldn't stop myself, it hurt too much.

"I saw the whole thing, it was so horrible, I thought I was going to die," I mumbled through sobs.

Dimitri began to soothe me, murmuring into my hair how much he loved me and how he would never let that happen ever again. I watched Stan and Lissa and Christian depart with worried looks on their faces, but Alberta stayed. She talked to Dimitri, and then she left.

I was still crying, it all hurt too much, the reality of it all was like the weight of the world resting on my shoulders, and I was slowly sinking to my knees because I couldn't handle it.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, I stopped. I looked up, wiping my eyes and saw that his brown eyes were full of tears too.

I was shocked, he had been crying as well, but it was so quiet that I hadn't heard him. I wiped his tears away, not daring to say a word.

"Roza," his hand immediately went to mine, and he caressed it, regarding me with utter seriousness, like he always did.

I felt like a child as I flinched away from his gaze. He tilted my face up to meet his, and bent over a little bit to look into my eyes.

"Listen to me very carefully," his tone was so soft and gentle, as if he were talking to a new born, "I will never let you go through that ever again, as long as I live you will always be safe, and you'll always be with me until the day you say you don't want me anymore."

My lower lip trembled a little bit but I made it stop with some effort.

"I will always want you," I managed to choke out, swallowing back further tears.

He smiled a heartbreaking smile, "Then I will always be here to protect you from now on."

I nodded and put my head on his chest, I felt his hand stroke my hair, twirling it around his fingers occasionally.

"Sleep, Roza," He whispered.

I shook my head, "No, I don't want to sleep, I'll dream of that again."

I shuddered at the thought and cringed. I felt his arms wrap securely around me, until I was pressed against him. I could smell his aftershave, now faint, and mixed with his own scent, a sharp minty smell.

"Think of me, think of our future together and you won't dream of that place ever again."

I smiled as I heard those words, I felt like I was being wrapped in complete bliss. I closed my eyes, but couldn't sleep. Instead, I just listened to the steady thump of his heart. I counted, one, two, three…


	12. Chapter 12

**Guys, that chapter was kind of experimental. If you guys liked it, please review if you didn't do bother and I'll just end the story o-o thanks for your reviews they motivate me:D haha **

**Love,**

**Ellen3 **


	13. Chapter 13

**Hey people, OK, I got this great idea, but I think I might have writers block (which I have never had in my entire life o-o) So I would appreciate it if all my readers send me ideas. AND I MEAN ALL OF YOU GUYS THE BEST ONE GETS FULL CREDIT FOR MY NEXT CHAPTER AND IT WILL HELP ME DECIDE IF THAT READER SHOULD CONTINUE MY STORY WHILE I START SCHOOL. This will only happen once! I won't give this opportunity again OK?**

Dimitri POV

I smiled, she was peacefully asleep again, and I leaned back against the seat and closed my eyes. No sooner had I done so, I felt the plan shudder and was suddenly tense and I was sitting erect in my seat.

"Belikov, something's hitting us," Alberta shouted from two rows in front of me.

I immediately dropped Rose in the empty seat next to me and strapped her in. I got up, disregarding the seat belt sign.

I sat next to the Guardians, and looked at Alberta's impassive face and gave an exasperated sigh.

"What do we do? We have two royal Moroi on board and an underage Dhampir in critical condition," I growled, my eyes traveling to the closed window. I pulled it open and sure enough, there was a black jet right next to us.

"We're under attack," I whispered, stating the obvious.

Alberta and Stan looked out the window and nodded grimly, they both knew it, but they weren't acting!

"Well, what are you waiting for? Get the Moroi here with us so we can protect them, I'll get Rose," I whispered and I was immediately out of my seat when the plane shuddered again. I almost fell but gripped the seat next to me for support. My vision blurred and my head was pounding, probably from blood loss, but I didn't care.

I ran to Rose and unbuckled her. Her eyes were wide, but not with fear. She was keeping her emotions in check pretty well. If we weren't in a life or death situation I would have complimented her.

"Rose," I whispered, my hands on her waist, unclipping the straps. I pulled her up into my arms and I felt her arms wrap around my neck.

"What's happening," She whispered, her voice full of urgency.

"We're under attack. Apparently those Strigoi followed us out," I growled, cursing myself. I should have been more careful, I thought that I had killed every last one there.

"But I thought you killed them all," she whispered, echoing my thoughts.

I shook my head, "They must have known we would come, they must have been hiding. I was too blind to see it, dammit!"

She shook her head, and I felt her fingers in my hair as I put her down next to me.

"It wasn't your fault, no one could have assumed there were more," she fumbled with the buckles, but eventually got them in.

I saw Alberta bringing Lissa, and I immediately removed my hand from Rose's and looked ahead, my face drained of emotion.

"Rose," Lissa whispered and hugged onto her friend. I smiled, they were certainly inseparable.

Rose hugged her best friend back half heartedly, as if her mind were somewhere else.

"I'm so glad you're ok," Lissa gushed.

Rose nodded, "Sure, sure, listen, why don't you go sit with Christian, keep him safe for me."

Lissa gave her a confused look and went off, slightly dejected.

I looked at Rose as the plane continued to shudder, "What was that?"

She shook her head, "Nothing, it's just that I need to think how I'm suppose to get her out of here alive." She looked around at the planes interior, "and alive."

Alberta was immediately in front of me.

"I called in another jet to come and pick us up, it should be here in a few minutes, we have to jump and hope that we make it onto the other plane."

"What are we going to do in the mean time? Let the Strigoi bomb us out?" I shouted in frustration.

She shook her head, a defeated look in her face. Suddenly she looked ten years older and a lot more tired. I knew how she felt, she felt she was suppose to know what to do, and she felt like she was failing, just like when I realized I was the cause of Rose being hurt.

I decided to take control, I had a plan, even thought it was rough, it was still a plan.

"Everyone, listen up. Someone has to direct the pilot-," Stan cut me off.

"He's dead, they shot him out."

I sighed and had to back track, but a few seconds of an uncomfortable silence and tension, I began again.

"Then who ever knows how to fly this plane has to get us out of their target range, do loops, circle around onto higher ground, all I know is that we can't take much more of this before we go down," My eyes scanned the team.

There were about a dozen, give or take. Some had been killed during the battle, but there was roughly a dozen.

I saw three of them head to the control room. That left about nine.

"The rest of us have to just try and protect the Moroi as much as possible, and ourselves. Find first-aid kits, take those with you, and medical supplies that can be found _must _be taken, we don't know what will happen next."

The rest nodded and departed, spreading out into different directions.

I looked at Alberta, "Do you know where we are?" I asked her.

She shook her head, "We've been off course this whole time, that's why it took so long. We should have been back hours ago."

"Dammit and why didn't you tell me?" I asked her, furious.

"Because I didn't know, Guardian Belikov," She hissed.

I sighed and turned around to see that Roza was standing up, swaying a little bit and marching to the back of the plane, a determined look on her face.

"Roza, where are you going?" I asked and was in front of her in a few minutes.

"Going to look for weapons and first-aid kits," She said, as if it were obvious.

I gave a dry chuckle that lacked humor.

"No, you're not. You're too weak, I don't need you falling when we get hit again," I whispered in her ear.

She pulled away from me, defiance written all over her face, "I want to help, I need to protect Lissa and Christian."

She marched away from me, leaving me stunned. Never in my life had I met such a strange and yet beautiful, compassionate woman. She was willing to risk her life _again _for the Moroi. If half the Guardians on this plane were as dedicated as her, then they would be amazing. The only person I could compare her to was … myself.

Rose POV

I marched away from him, my eyes groggy from sleep, and my hands breaking out in a cold sweat. I was either going to jump out of this plane dead, or alive. There was no in between anymore, Lissa couldn't heal me when she has to be protected.

I found a few other first-aid kits and brought them back to the seat just as the plane shuddered. I almost fell into the seat but caught myself in time.

"What's going to happen to us," I wondered.

I dug out the hidden stakes I had in my pocket and walked over to the door that was clearly marked **DO NOT OPEN **and looked around. My hands were sweaty and I was breaking into another sheet of cold sweat. It covered my forehead, causing my hair to stick to my face. I brushed my sweat away and looked behind me.

This part of the plane was deserted, so I opened the door. A huge gust of wind almost blew me backwards. I hung onto the door, my hair whipping behind me, the wind slashing against my face with cold, merciless hands.

My eyes were forced to open in slits and I saw the pilot, he was a Strigoi, and his red eyes looked at me and gave me a cold smile. I aimed my stake at him, judging the distance, and how far I would have to throw.

My hand grabbed onto the door handle and I launched the stake into the air. It flew like a silver bullet, sure enough it went through the thin sheet of glass, but it missed its designated point. It hit the co-pilot instead, the stake piercing his heart, and he fell. I immediately closed the door and leaned against it, my heart thumping in my throat, my eyes wide with fear.

"God," I breathed out, my back against the wall now.

Suddenly I felt the plane give one final violent shake and suddenly, the fire alarms were going off.

"Rose!" Alberta yelled, pulling me out of there.

I looked back to see that the fire was coming from the back of this part of the jet. I ran through the door, into Dimitri's waiting arms.

I heard a scream from the closed door and saw Christian was in there, and he couldn't get out, his leg was trapped between seats.

Dimitri immediately dropped his hold, gave me one final kiss, his eyes filled with determination and burst through the door into the flames.

"No!" I screamed, trying to go in after him, but several Guardians pulled me back, restraining me.

I watched through the window as the flames licked around both of them. The edges were tipped with orange, while the center was a icy blue, filled with red. It licked away at the seats, making them turn an ashy black. The fire was fast, and Dimitri wasn't fast enough.

He managed to get Christian out, and shove him through the door, but the fire consumed him, licking around his frame.

I broke away from them, opening the door, and going in after him. Smoke filled the air, making my eyes tear and my throat burn. The ash from the already burned seats covered the floor like a carpet. I reached Dimitri, he was in the heart of the fire. I launched myself into the flames, and almost instantly my clothes caught fire. I grabbed onto him, panting, and losing oxygen fast. I was lightheaded as I pulling him into my arms, reaching the door, and crawling out.

"Rose!" Alberta exclaimed when she saw me.

I coughed twice and my eyes closed.


	14. Chapter 14

**Look, I would appreciate it if SOME of you guys would stop putting me down on the reviews. It kind of brings me down…yeah, real shocker I know. But like, they depress me so like if u want me to stop writing just say so! That's why it took me so long to get this chapter up.**

Rose POV

I heard an engine roar and moaned. I wanted to keep on sleeping, there was a pounding behind my eyes and I had trouble breathing.

"Rose, are you awake yet?" That was his voice, but it was cracked and scratchy, not his usual smooth and calm.

"Hm," I mumbled, I couldn't get my eyes open, it was as if there was a block of steal keeping them closed.

"Rose hang on, we're almost at the academy," he whispered, voice urgent but weak somehow.

I nodded; I felt the car bump along the road, my body bouncing back and forth.

"Help me up?" I mumbled, my voice sounded so different, it didn't even sound like me.

I felt movement next to me and then a set of strong hands were propping me up and stroking my back.

My eyes opened, and what I saw shocked me.

The face that was in front of me was so different from what I knew. It wasn't the smooth, lightly bronzed skin I was used to. This one was full of burned scares, some healing, but some staying the same and bleeding. The eyes were bright, a milky chocolate, but it had somehow lost its sense of excitement, and that eternal flame that was always there.

"D-dimitri?" I wasn't even sure this was Dimitri, he looked so different he was almost unrecognizable.

"Yes, Roza, I'm here," he whispered, tears flowing out of his eyes, leaving dirty tracks on his once perfect face.

He put his hand on my cheek and caressed it, "Roza, I'm so sorry I put you in so much danger this semester, this was my entire fault."

I shook my head, "No, no, it wasn't your fault, don't worry about it, I'm fine."

I looked away from him, out the window. It was night, and the landscape looked like it was being showered with a sweet white light. It made everything glow and look innocent. It made the event that had happened a few days ago seem surreal.

"Where are we?" I asked him, my eyes turning to him.

"We're about ten miles from the Academy, Roza, don't worry," He put his arm around me and I put my head on his chest.

I nodded, my body was aching with fatigue and pain. I could barely breath right.

"Who's driving this thing anyways?" I asked him, my eyes fixed on the window.

"Alberta, Stan's in the back tending to Christian and Lissa."

I nodded, and looked up into his face. He was still the same Dimitri, calm, even now when he was half burned to a crisp. I loved that about him.

Suddenly, the van lurched and came to a stop.

"Dammit!" Alberta yelled.

My head immediately shot up and looked around. It was night and there could be Strigois around.

"What's wrong Alberta?" Dimitri asked, his Guardian mask was on, and his voice was urgent.

"The car broke down, and it's not. There's Strigoi outside our campus, so we have to go on foot now."

I heard him sigh and then take me off his lap.

"Roza, are you well enough to run?" He asked, his eyes searching my face for signs of distress.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I whispered, I was completely exhausted, but I refused to show weakness.

I got out of the car and was greeted with a sharp winter air. It felt like a slap in the face, as if it were mocking me, and telling me that I wouldn't make it.

"Which direction do we run in?" I asked Alberta, the hope was gone from my voice, I felt empty.

"North, it's about eight miles, are you sure you can make it?" She asked.

I nodded and started running. I felt Dimitri's presence next to me and opened my mouth to ask the question I was dying to have answered.

"What happened after I saved you?" I asked him, my eyes focused on the blurring images of snow covered trees.

"From what Alberta told me, one of the Guardians landed the plane, and she called in a van from the Academy."

His voice and face were both impassive, and that sent a wave of unease towards me.

I nodded once and drifted ahead of him, wishing that I knew what had happened when I saw a pair of red eyes glaring at me from up ahead.

I stopped and wiped my face of any emotion. I felt the other tense up behind me, they had seen it too.

"Stakes," I heard Alberta whisper.

I took mine out from my pocket and suddenly, they were on us.

"You thought you were safe, girl?" He hissed in my ear.

It was the same one from back in the house. His voice sent so many images into my mind, my near death, and the way they all looked.

My small moment of hesitation was all he needed. He grabbed me and pinned me to the ground, trying to get his fangs into my neck. I held him at bay, my arms pushing against his chest, using them as a leverage, I sat up, and kicked him in the face. His face shot up, and I heard a crack. He looked at me and gave me a chilling smile. He cracked his neck back in place, his red eyes looked as if they were seeing into my soul.

He sprang at me with incredible speed that I didn't even see him until he was on top of me again. He pinned the hand with the stake to the ground, his cold fingers pressing against my wrist, careful not to touch the medal.

My other hand curled and I reached for the other stake I had hidden and plunged it into his chest. He screamed, his voice making the blood pound in my ears. It made my heart stutter with fright and shock.

My had was still on the stake, plunging it deeper and deeper, until, finally, he fell. He lay there, twitching on the cold earth. The white landscape, once so very peaceful, and had once been a true sanctum of harmony, was now shattered. His blood slowly pooled around him, and he finally lay still. I pulled the stake out and looked around.

The fighting around me made it seem like a battlefield, blood was being shed, and screams were ringing out. I saw several bodies on the floor and feared for Dimitri, and Lissa's life. Finally, I spotted Lissa and Christian, huddled close together as a small group of Strigoi walked towards them.

I snarled and ran to them, putting myself in front of them. I staked the first one, because I had caught him by surprise. He screamed out and fell, clearly not as bad as the one I had just faced.

"Christian, I need you to fight, with fire," I yelled over the screams.

He looked completely shocked, and his pale complexion turned even paler.

"I can't, I'm not experienced enough," He choked out.

I felt claws digging into my arm and winced, "You have to!"

There was a silence from him, and then, I felt a wave of heat pass over me, and the Strigoi in front of me with his claws in me disappeared into a pile of ash.

I looked at my arm, it was bleeding again, and dangling helplessly at my side. I cursed, frustrated and looked at the other two next to Lissa.

"Lissa, stay behind me, run to the Academy with Christian, this is no place for you," I yelled at her, desperate to keep her safe.

She looked shocked and confused, "Rose, are you insane? I'm not leaving you," She yelled.

I shook my head, "Please, I don't want you dead."

I saw tears in her eyes, and she let a few fall before she nodded.

I turned away from her retreating figure and turned to the two Strigoi facing me, smiling. Their teeth were sharp and a startling shade of white. They glowed in the moonlight and sent goosebumps spreading across my body.

The jumped all of a sudden, once behind me and one was suddenly in front of me.

The both cornered me in, hissing and suddenly, I was pinned against a tree. I felt one of them press me against it harder.

"He may not have been able to kill you, but that doesn't mean you won't be able to," They hissed.

I shook my head, "I'm not going to die tonight."

I shoved my stake into his heart, hearing him scream and fall was almost collapsed. I couldn't stand this anymore, it was too much, the screams brought back so many memories. Mostly ones of how I had screamed when I was in that house.

I took my stake out of the first one and plunged it into the second. The second my stake touched his skin, he lit up.

I looked behind him and saw Christian standing there, a gloqing flame erupting from both his hands.

"Christian, go with Lissa! She needs protection," I yelled at him, almost crying.

He shook my head, "You saved my life in there Rose, you put your life on the line for me, I'll do the same for you."

His blue eyes were bright with determination, and as much as I appreciated his help, I couldn't let him stay here. He had to protect the one he loved, just like I had to protect the one _I _loved.

"Lissa is alone, and since I can't protect her, you have to." I gave him a small smile, and ushered him away.

He sighed and ran into the increasing darkness. My eyes searched for Dimitri's face among the fighters. And, suddenly, there he was, towering two feet above his opponent. I watched him fight with an eerie fascination, the way his body moved, faster than a Strigois, even, and yet, gentle enough to comfort me.

Then, suddenly, while he was dispatching his opponent, another Strigoi was coming up behind him, so quietly, that he didn't notice.

"No!" I yelled, and began pushing through the crowd, cutting a path through the haze of death. I felt like I was moving through mud, and when I finally got to him, the Strigoi was about to break his neck.

I plunged the staked into his back, praying that it hit his heart. Suddenly, he stopped, as if someone had pressed pause. His eyes went wide, then, slowly, the red faded, his hands loosened from Dimitri's neck, and he fell.

"Dimitri," I whispered, tears coming out of my eyes. "Dimitri, please tell me you're ok," I whispered in his ear, cradling him to me.

His eyes were closed, but then, they opened.

"Roza," He stroked my cheek, and smiled, "I'm fine, thanks to you."

I hugged him close, and he hugged me back, pulling me to him.

"So, the student saves the teacher," he mused, and I smiled in relief.

I put him back down gently and began dispatching the rest of the Strigoi that were around us.

I realized that each one I fought was more skilled then the next, as if they had been watching me fight. I fell back onto the snow in exhaustion, my body aching with fatigue when a Strigoi crashed on top of me.

"Say good night, sweet heart," she whispered.

My eyelids were closing, and all I caught was a pair of sparkling blue eyes and raven black hair.


	15. Chapter 15

Dimitri POV

My breathing was uneven, and the smell of burning flesh didn't help my dwindling strength. Some Guardians had started fires to burn the remaining Strigoi, and the smell was gut wrenching. I looked over to the Guardians who were suppose to be keeping Tasha at bay from the fight, and saw them lying on the ground, in the fire. My heart stopped and I immediately staked the Strigoi I was fighting and scanned the crowd for Tasha and Rose but couldn't find them.

Suddenly I heard a scream and turned in that direction. I saw Tasha's black hair sliding over her shoulder, and Rose was under her, unconscious.

I ran through the crowd, cutting a straight path, my eyes trained on Rose's body. She was growing paler and paler, and Tasha seemed to be getting stronger.

I ran harder and faster, and, finally, reached them. I tore Tasha off my Roza and threw her against a tree.

She snarled and I saw blood on her lips. I stopped moving, the world seemed to stop, as if someone had pressed pause. Tasha's once clear blue eyes were now a riveting red, blood red. I looked at Rose, her eyes were closed, but I could feel a heartbeat, to my relief. Tasha sprang at me, but I caught her in midair, my hands wrapping around her neck and neatly snapping it in two. I threw her in the nearest fire and watched her burn.

"Dimitri," I turned towards that voice.

I would know that voice anywhere, even if I was in a pit of rage and distress, which I was in right now. I turned to Rose, she was struggling to get up, and my arms slide beneath her.

"Roza, are you alright?" I asked, my eyes scanning her body for any fatal wounds.

She nodded once and smiled at me, "Nothing can take me away from my comrade."

I sighed, exasperated, even now, when we could both die, she still used the same nickname she gave me when we first met.

I carried her away from the battlefield, and to where the Guardians were, the numbers had seemed to multiply.

I saw the princess standing behind a circle of Guardians, her face full of shock. She was scanning the crowd and when she saw Rose in my arms, she broke through the wall of Guardians and came running towards me.

"Is she dead?" She asked, her voice was soft, like wind chimes.

I shook my head, "She's alive…barely."

That's all she needed. She took Roza out of my arms and closed her eyes. She sank down to her knees and was perfectly still. Her face was peaceful, serene, and suddenly, it was all over.

I saw Rose's eyes open, and that inner fire was burning behind her eyes again, brighter then ever.

The princess collapsed, and three Guardians came by to catch her. Luckily, they brought a few vans with them, so we didn't have to run back to the Academy.

Roza and I rode in one van, I was careful not to touch her now, we were going back to the academy, it was business there, I couldn't risk Roza getting in trouble.

I felt her head fall on my shoulder and sighed, looking down. I shook off my duster and draped it over her like a blanket. It reminded me of our trip to the mall her first year back. Except, there was a lot less to worry about, and our lives were much less complicated.

"Sleep well, Roza," I whispered in her ear so only she could hear.

Rose POV

I woke up in the clinic, the lights seemed to be burning holes into my skin. I turned over, burring my face in the soft pillows. I stayed like that for a few hours, refusing to move my aching body.

"Is she asleep?"

My eyes sprang open, and I immediately turned myself to face the bright lights. Pink and blue spots blurred my vision, but I was able to make out my Russian God's face.

"Nope," I sighed, I've been trying, I thought.

"Rose, are you alright?" He asked me, brushing a hand over my face.

I nodded, "Just really sore, but otherwise ok."

He nodded and looked at the doctor for a second opinion. She motioned for him to step out with her, and they left me lying on the bed.

I stayed perfectly still, my eyes closing for about three days, and for the duration of those three long days, I never saw Dimitri's face. He didn't even pop in to check on me, he stayed away, it reminded me of my first few months back, when the lust charm had held us, and the incident with Victor. He hadn't dared visited me back then either. He regretted our actions, and he might regret them now, I thought.

I fell into an uneasy sleep the fourth day, one tear leaking out of my eye.

Dimitri POV

I walked into the halls with Dr Olendisiki, looking at her anxiously.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

She looked uncomfortable, "She's very unresponsive to tests, like she's brain dead, and yet she can talk to you, but not us. It concerns me."

I looked at her, confused and partially shocked. Then the realization hit me. She was probably traumatized from the battle. I would be too if I were her.

I nodded and walked away from her, glaring down at the floor. I was hopelessly confused; I shouldn't have acted so protective of her on the plane, even though I desperately wanted to. I shouldn't have kissed her or held her and tell her I loved her. I was supposed to be rational, and hold it all in. And, frankly, it sucked.

"Belikov, glad I caught you," Alberta grabbed my arm and twirled me to face her.

"Yes, Guardian Petrov?" I asked, my voice was monotone and grim.

"We have an exchange student from Russia, she was finishing her senior year, but she didn't want to continue at the academy at Siberia, so she came here."

I stopped and looked at her, "How old is she?"

Alberta hesitated, "Well, she was held back for a year so she's 19."

I nodded, "And you want me to train her?"

"Yes, if it's not too much trouble, she's waiting in the gym as we speak."

I nodded, "On my way, thank you Guardian Petrov."

I walked into the gym and saw a girl with wispy blonde hair leaning against a wall, she was in a sports bra and shorts. Once she saw me she smiled, showing a perfect set of white teeth.

"You must be Guardian Belikov, I've heard so much about you," She said, her voice was just as alluring as her body.

I nodded, "Nice to meet you, what's your name?"

"Evelyn, or eve," She got off the wall and walked towards me, looking me up and down.

I nodded, "Start by running twelve laps around the track, no exceptions, no breaks."

Her mouth flew open and she glared at me, "Are you serious?" She sputtered.

I nodded, and bent down to look her in the eye, "Go," I breathed.

She scowled and ran out the door muttering curses under her breath.

"Make that thirteen," I called after her.

Rose POV

I opened my eyes and got out of bed, walking to the bathroom. I pulled a comb through my hair and made it lie flat again, scowling at my reflection.

"Can I go now?" I called out the door at the doctors.

They sighed, "We would like nothing more."

I smiled and walked out of the clinic and into my dorm. I looked at the clock and cursed I was late for practice, not that he would notice.

I pulled off my tank top and shorts and took a quick shower, stepping into a sports bra and sweat pants.

I pulled my hair into a pony tail at the nape of my neck and walked into the gym to see Dimitri with his hands on a blonde girls waist, positioning her.

I stopped in the door way and closed the door quietly behind me. I stood perfectly still behind the wall and listened.

"Evelyn, position your body so that you can tackle me," I heard his voice, rich and perfect. I peeked around the wall and saw the blonde girl spring at Dimitri. He easily dodged it, grabbing her arm and pinning her to the floor, moving his torso to stop her movement.

They seemed to stay like that for a while, she snaked her hand into his soft brown hair, the hair that I loved so much, and pulled his mouth to hers.

I felt tears brim over my eyes and I turned away. I walked into the open, and almost instantly Dimitri's head shot up.

He looked at me, his eyes were pleading. I wiped away my tears and composed my face.

"Guardian Belikov, I thought you were suppose to be teaching students, not sucking their face off," I hissed, crossing my arms over my chest.

The girl named Evelyn looked up at me, smirking.

"It's called kissing, something you'll never get from him."

I barked a laugh, if only she knew he slept with me and kissed me several times over. I walked over to her, picked her up as easily as if she weighed nothing and threw her back down.

"Roza," He warned, his hand on my shoulder, trying to pull me away from her.

I shook it off, "Don't call me that, Guardian Belikov."

He spun me to face him, and we were unbearably close once again. He pulled me into a separate room and locked the door.

"Roza, what was that for you could have injured her," He hissed, clearly pissed off.

I laughed, "Then bring her to the clinic, she can take my place."

"What had gotten into you, you're being irrational."

I looked at him, completely shocked, "What's 'gotten into me' is that I just saw the man I love kissing another girl, and I just realized that everything that he said to me on the plane and after the battle was a complete _lie. That's _what's gotten into me Guardian Belikov. But I don't need to tell you that, you knew you were lying."

I walked briskly out the door before he could catch me. I heard him calling my name behind me but I didn't look back.

I practically ran to Alberta's office and knocked the door down.

She opened it, her face slightly flustered, "Rose, what's going on?"

"I need a new mentor, don't ask questions about it, just get me one."

She looked shocked and opened her mouth, but then thought better of it and closed it.

"Well, we do have a new one from Britain, Guardian Tanner," She was flipping through files and looked up at me.

I nodded, "I'll take him, when do we start?"

"Tomorrow, but I'll get you acquainted very soon, and Rose," She looked at me again, holding my gaze, "That girl Evelyn won't take your place in Belikov's heart, you have to realize that."

I shook my head, "She already has, I caught them kissing," I looked down, I felt bad that I rated him out, but I felt even worse that I saw what they were doing.

Alberta looked completely shocked now and blinked twice, "That's," she looked around the room trying to find a word, "Something."

I nodded, "Yeah, so when do I meet him?"

"How about lunch, I'll tell him to find you."

I nodded my thanks and walked out the door, practically running into Dimitri. He opened his mouth, and was about to explain, when I held my hand up.

"Don't even go there, we're done."

I walked around him, my face hard, and left him standing there, helpless, and alone. I felt like I was leaving myself behind, but I didn't care anymore. If he could do that with her, then I can do _anything _with my new mentor.


	16. Chapter 16

Rose POV

I walked through the halls, I only had one period left till lunch, and that's when I saw _them._ Dimitri was walking with Evelyn, showing her where classes were and opening doors for her.

I turned away from them and walked in the opposite direction, and ran right into someone.

My books spilled out of my hands and scattered around the floor.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry, didn't see you," I looked up into a pair of bright green eyes, and blonde hair. He was absolutely gorgeous, I stopped dead and looked into those eyes.

He gave me a smile and had my books stacked into a neat pile and handed them to me.

He looked me up and down, "Might you be Rose Hathaway?"

His English accent was amazingly seductive and I nodded, flipping my hair back and smiling.

"I'm Aaron Tanner, it's a pleasure to meet you," he stuck out his hand and I shook it, my smile growing even wider.

"Let's do lunch, I can skip this period," I said, watching Dimitri stop and glare at us. He was going to guard my class before lunch, and I just didn't want to face him.

Aaron shook his head, "Nonsense, but if it makes you feel any better I'll come in the class with you."

I smiled, "Yeah, it would, thanks."

We walked in and I saw Evelyn in the same class and purposely sat next to her, flashing her a grin.

"We meet again," She smirked at me.

I glared at her, "Yeah, obviously I didn't slam you on the mats hard enough for you to get a concussion, sorry about that."

The class started and I immediately stopped talking, if Stan caught me one more time it's another detention.

Dimitri POV

I watched Guardian Aaron Tanner walk into the room with Rose, he went to the back with the other Guardians, right next to me.

"Guardian Tanner," I whispered, "If you try anything with Rose I swear I will destroy you," my tone was polite, but my words cut through the air like a knife.

He chuckled, "If she likes it, it's not my fault," he whispered back, "And, from what I heard, you're the one who dumped her, why should you care."

I closed my eyes to control my anger, I didn't dump her, she kissed _me _why can't anyone understand that? I wanted to pull away, she wouldn't let me, and Rose was at the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I will still destroy you, Tanner, make no mistake."

He smiled, "If you're so anxious to 'destroy' me, let's have a little battle, students versus student, mentor versus mentor, after school today."

I stopped, "But that's not fair, I've only had Eve for a day."

He shook his head, smiling, "It's a little game, we can both see how good our students are."

"I know for a fact that Rose is the best fighter in this Academy, no one can beat her, you want to know why?" I asked, smirking.

He shrugged, still smiling.

"Because I taught her," I looked at the front of the room again and heard the bell ring. Rose was immediately out of her seat and walking to the back of the room.

"Aaron, let's do lunch," She smiled and took his arm, pulling him out the door.

My heart stopped, I watched them walk out, anger and frustration burning behind my mask. Evelyn came up to me, and linked her arm through mine. I promptly detached myself and looked at her.

"Evelyn, under no circumstances are we going to get involved, do you understand? I am your mentor, and my heart belongs elsewhere," my tone was dead serious.

She shrugged, "Alright, no harm in getting someone jealous though, am I right?"

I chuckled, she was so young, and even more naïve then Roza, "Evelyn, I mean it, this ends here, I am only your guide for the next couple of weeks, nothing more."

She smiled, "Well, I have lunch, let's go."

Rose POV

I walked into the cafeteria, Aaron on my arm. I caught envious stares from both girls and guys alike. We sat down at an empty table, he sat next to me, smiling.

"You aren't hungry?" He asked.

I shook my head, "Nope, I'm just kind of stressed right now, and pretty confused."

He cocked his head in an adorable manner, "Why, I'm here for you."

I smiled, I knew he was, but the question was would he be able to understand the shit I was in? Well there's no harm in trying, Rose, I thought.

"I was in love with my mentor, and I thought he was in love with me too, he told me he was, but this morning I saw him kissing another girl, another _student _and well, now I'm just hurt."

He nodded, "Belikov isn't worth getting hurt over, you have me, and I won't leave you."

"Thanks," I mumbled, I was getting lost in those brilliant green eyes.

Before I knew It, my arms were around him and his were resting on my lower back. I smiled, it felt nice being able to feel loved again.

I heard someone clear his throat and had half a mind to tell them to go away, when I turned around.

Dimitri was standing there, arms crossed over his chest, eyes blazing with furry.

"Dimka, let's go sit-," Evelyn began, but then saw me and stopped, her hand immediately went to his arm. I eyed those fingers, wanting to pry them off.

"We'll sit here Eve," He sat down across from us, looking at Guardian Tanner in a very disapproving way.

"What do you need, Guardian Belikov?" Aaron gave him a smile and he put his hand on my leg.

I shivered once and I felt Dimitri's eyes turn to my face, and a message was flashing in his eyes. It was more of a warning, telling me to get the hell away from him.

I shook my head my expression completely blank.

"So, are we still on for the fight?" Dimitri asked, looking at me but speaking to Aaron.

He nodded, and I looked at him, "What fight?"

I pictured Dimitri slamming Aaron's body into a wall and winced.

"You didn't tell her?" Dimitri mused.

"I was going to, Rose. I've scheduled a mere combat training session, myself versus Guardian Belikov, and you, versus Evelyn," he smiled at me.

I smiled back, pleased. I could totally kick her ass at this, suddenly, I couldn't wait for school to be over, I would get to kick her ass for taking my man.

"Yeah, that's cool," I flashed Evelyn a grin, "Bring a first aid kit, you'll need it."

She gave me a smile, "I'll bring one, but I know I won't need it, you will."

I scoffed, and to my surprise my anger shot up, and I leaned over the table, "Listen here, little bitch, don't screw around with me, we both know what happened this morning, and unless you want a replay of that, don't piss me off."

She looked thoroughly shaken and I sat back down smiling.

"Rose, can I talk to you?" Dimitri growled and before I knew it he was dragging my out by my arm.

We walked into the empty hall and he turned me so that I had to face him.

"Rose, stop being such a child I don't love her, that kiss was _nothing _she kissed me, I didn't kiss her back," he looked into my eyes, desperately willing me to believe in him. No such luck.

"Forget it Guardian Belikov, if that was the case then you would have told me that this morning, you just made it up." I started to walk back in when he caught my arm again and twirled me.

He kissed me, his lips pressing hard against mine. I was so shocked that I couldn't respond, but the sweetness of the kiss soon took over, and I kissed him back, then pulled away, looking around to see if anyone had seen us.

"That was a kiss, what Evelyn and I did was absolutely nothing," he cupped my chin with his hand and tilted my head up to meet his eyes.

I sighed, I couldn't deny it. The way he kissed me was magically, it seemed to make the room dissolve, and all I could see was him, in front of me, and being there for me always.

"One chance," I mumbled, "One, if you screw it up, we're done."

I knew I would regret this later, but I couldn't help myself.

He smiled at me and kissed my cheek leaving his lips there.

"What about Tanner? I can't just dump him," I thought out loud.

"Well, we could combine sessions," He suggested.

I nodded, I liked that. "And the fight?"

He was instantly serious again and his lips were gone. He looked at me, his hands on my shoulders.

"About that, there will be no hitting above the neck ok? No head shots, Rose, I mean it," his gaze was so full of power that I had to agree.

"What, and you get to kill my hot Britain while I can't even touch a head on your Russian babe?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

He sighed, "She isn't nearly as sexy as you, and she never will be, ok? And as for Tanner, well, I don't know how you feel about him."

"I like him, he's not a bad guy, touchy, but not so bad."

He growled, "The only one that can ever touch you is me, don't forget that."

I smiled, and walked back into the cafeteria. The rest of the day passed by in a haze, mostly involving teachers yelling at me to stay awake.

When school was over, I headed to the gym bathroom and changed into a tight low cut red sports bra and matching red and black shorts. I walked out and saw Dimitri and Aaron standing there, talking. When they saw me they stopped.

I swear I saw Aarons eyes pop out of his head, and Dimitri wasn't far behind. His face was full of lust that he tried to hide.

"So, boys, where's the Russian biotch?" I asked, looking for her.

I heard the door open and in she walked, wearing a pink sports bra and matching shorts.

Aaron barely gave her a second look, looking extremely bored. Dimitri, on the other hand was looking openly at her and me.

I walked over to him and snapped my fingers and whispered in his ear, "I gave you one chance, if you want to ruin it now, go ahead."

He stopped and looked at me, his eyes were glazed over, the look that Dhampirs got when they were being controlled by Moroi.

"Then I can break it now," He said, eyes dreamy and he walked over to Evelyn, putting his arms around her waist and hugging her tight.

I felt my mouth hit the floor and glared at them, so shocked that I couldn't even move. Could it be possible that Evelyn was part Moroi?


	17. Chapter 17

Rose POV

I walked right up to her and slapped her in the face, breaking her concentration and Dimitri immediately dropped his hold on her and looked at me in shock.

"Rose, what the hell was that? We haven't started yet!" He told me, shocked.

I glared at him, "If you were me and you saw what I just saw you would have done the same thing, and by the way, you ruined your first and _only _chance."

I turned away from him and walked to Aaron and he put his arm around my waist rubbing circles and comforting me.

"It'll be alright, love, I'll kick his ass for this don't worry," he planted a friendly kiss on my forehead and I smiled.

I looked at Dimitri, his face was full of shock and furry, he doesn't remember anything, I thought, too bad.

"Let's start Evelyn, you got me pissed and pumped. Hope you brought that first-aid kit."

We faced each other on separate sides of the mat and Aaron signaled for us to start. I didn't bother wasting time to put on protective gear. I rushed at her, plowing her to the ground, getting on top of her and started punching her fast and hard, not near her face, but her chest.

I let her up and she looked at me, hatred on her face. She rushed at me, and tried a roundhouse kick on my stomach. I grabbed her leg and twisted it, making her face away from me and pushed her roughly to the ground.

I got on top of her, pinning her down hard, not letting her up.

"Tap out bitch, and this will end," I whispered in her ear.

Her hand was banging on the mat for me to stop and I got off her. She would be bruised up, nothing more.

"Well, Rose clearly won," Aaron began, turning to Dimitri, "You need to take better care of your student."

He smiled, "Guardian Tanner, I just got Eve, if you would do me the honor of letting me fight _my _former student, you'll see that we will get into it."

I nodded my face dark and full of anger. I saw Aaron look at me briefly, and nodded too. I looked at Dimitri and turned away, going to the opposite side of the mat. I heard Aaron count to three and turned just in time to see Dimitri meeting me in the middle of the mat.

We circled each other, looking for a flaw in our blocking stances. He apparently found one and went for my stomach, pinning me down.

"Rose, stop this, I don't remember what happened. We can work it out," he whispered in my ear.

I laughed, so this was his way of talking to me. No such luck. I jabbed my elbow into his cheek hard enough to distract him and wiggled free.

"Screw you Guardian Belikov, and shut up," I hissed trying to land a punch and getting blocked.

"Everything you did to me, you expect me to believe you now?" I asked him, disgusted.

He grabbed my fist and used it to push me down to my knees. I grinded my teeth against the pain as he pushed me down flat on my back.

"Rose, don't do this, neither of us want this, stop it. You can't talk to me like that," his eyes were narrowed with furry that he was trying to control.

"You couldn't take your eyes off her, that wasn't her, that was all _you_," I felt my tears start to well up in my eyes.

He sighed, "Rose," he began, still on me, our voices were so hushed Aaron and Evelyn were looking at us, eyes wide.

He didn't talk to for a while and the rest of the fight was quiet. Finally, Dimitri was on top of me, pinning me down.

"Belikov got this one," Aaron mumbled, clearly unhappy.

But Dimitri didn't get off me, our breathing was heavy. I was hyper aware where our bodies touched and that only made me feel worse. I wanted to kiss him so bad, but he probably would pull away, and hurt me _again_.

"Dimitri," I breathed as he leaned down, his brown hair framing his face, "Don't."

He stopped and looked at me, his eyes filled with shock, "Rose, I thought you always wanted to."

I shook my head, "Not after what I saw with you and Evelyn."

He didn't bother denying it anymore and let me up. I stood up and went to Aaron's side.

"How'd I do?" I asked him.

"Hm, you left your left side open too much, that's how he was about to get through. Your blocking stance could be even more perfected so no one can get in, not even him."

I nodded, I was used to criticism and advice because I got it all the time from Dimitri.

"Are we done here, Aaron?" I asked and he nodded. I picked up my bag and walked out the door, Dimitri directly behind me.

"Rose, you have to listen to me, Evelyn used compulsion, she made me do that," his eyes were pleading with me to believe him.

"Yeah but she didn't compel you to look at her like that, you did that yourself."

He sighed, "Regardless, I still love you, Evelyn may look slightly appealing, but she doesn't make me feel as good as you do."

I smiled, "Lies, Dimitri. Just stop it."

He looked at me, his hand on my shoulder, pulling me close. I couldn't deny the electricity crackling between us; it was so sweet, just like old times.

He tilted my face up and kissed me softly and pulling away, "Does that make you feel better?"

The kiss made my head spin, and rocked my world. I felt his hands on the sides of my face and couldn't help a nod.

"I'll quit being her mentor, report her, and once you finish your senior year I'll be with you, I won't leave you ever again or look at anyone else the way I look at you."

I looked at him, looking at his face for any signs of a lie and found none. I was suddenly taken back to the plane, and I remembered the way her held me, made me feel so safe and protected.

I kissed him again, loving the feeling and smiles, "That's OK with me."

He nodded and scooped me up in his arms and we went into his room. I knew that he wouldn't leave me at that moment, knew that he would always be there for me, his kisses were so sweet and so full of hope and love. You couldn't duplicate feelings like that, you just couldn't.

"So, this is what a happy ending feels like?" I asked him.

He laughed, "I guess so, I never really thought it would be like this though."

I nodded, "Me neither, I never thought I would have my happy ending."

"And I never thought I would finally have you, of all people," he kissed me again, his arms wrapped around me.

In his arms, I felt safe, whole, protected.

"I love you," I whispered. I learned a lot about love these few months back, I learned I never loved anyone as much as I loved Dimitri.

"I love you too, Roza, forever."

I nodded, "Forever." 


End file.
